Unsheathed

Xia Zhen stood in the ruins of the resting pavilion, appearing like a caged beast as he walked in circles. He then waved his hands and caused a dozen or so mountains, including Topknot Mountain, to rise into the air as if they had been severed from the earth. Xia Zhen used the Mountain Moving Formation to flip these mountains upside down, after which he released them and had them crash into the ground. Clouds of dust and debris blotted out heaven and earth as the inverted mountains collided into the nearby mountains and rivers, with the force of each collision being equivalent to a destructive power between the Golden Core Tier and the Nascent Tier.

However, it was a shame that the Mountain Moving Formation was an inanimate formation that couldn’t be moved. That old bastard had alerted the detestable young sword immortal and scared him away, making him take a detour around Topknot Mountain as he traveled north. As a result, the Mountain Moving Formation that he had spent a fortune to set up had become nothing more than a decoration and a huge joke. That being the case, Xia Zhen was now wielding its formidable power to vent his uncontrollable fury.

Everyone within a radius of five hundred kilometers felt violent tremors ripple through the earth.

Ye Han, Fan Weiran, and the second ancestor of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm immediately tensed up in apprehension upon seeing this.

In the end, Xia Zhen even uprooted Topknot Mountain and severed its mountain roots, raising it high into the sea of clouds before slamming it back down.

However, Xia Zhen suddenly furrowed his brows.

Two people — or three people, to be more precise — walked over from the path along the mountain ridge.

A man and a woman who looked like Dao partners walked over together, chatting and smiling as they did so. The woman was even carrying a swaddled baby in her arms, with a soft and gentle look in her eyes.

There was an extremely slender and snow-white sword hanging by the woman’s waist.

Xia Zhen’s mind was already starting to feel numb.

As for the man, the sight of him further caused an ice-cold chill to run down Xia Zhen’s spine.

“Goodness me, this is disturbing Big Sister Li and my child,” the man grumbled. “I’ll have to make all kinds of funny faces to calm the child down now.”

Xia Zhen felt genuine despair at this moment.

The woman whom the man was referring to as Big Sister Li…

If his guess of her identity was correct, then he wouldn’t be able to flee today even if he fought with his life on the line.

The female sword immortal from the central region of the Northern Complete Reed Continent was called Li Cai.

Her bonded flying sword was called Snowflake.

The sword by her waist was called Frost Flood Dragon.

She was one of the sword immortals who hadn’t traveled to Stalactite Mountain and was still residing in the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

In order to show respect toward her, she was now referred to as “great sword immortal” rather than just “sword immortal.”

This sounded very forced.

However, her destructive ability couldn’t be questioned.

All of the Upper Five Tier sword immortals in the Northern Complete Reed Continent were legitimately very powerful, and even Nascent Tier sword cultivators would actually scoff at the thought of challenging Unpolished Jade Tier cultivators. They would feel embarrassed even if they won.

After a sword cultivator advanced to the Unpolished Jade Tier, however, they would almost inevitably engage in several intense battles with other sword immortals. If they died in battle, this would mean that their fortune was bad and that they had dared to impudently challenge others even though their abilities were limited. They didn’t deserve to carry the title of “sword immortal,” and it was better that they were dead. If the newly advanced sword cultivator survived, however, then they would have the right to enjoy a lofty standing in the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

Xia Zhen gritted his teeth and turned around to face the mountain path, bowing in respect and greeting, “My respects to Great Sword Immortal Li, and my respects to Senior Jiang.”

Jiang Shangzhen chuckled and remarked, “Oh? You know to refer to me as Senior now?”

Li Cai frowned and said, “If it weren’t for your tactfulness, knowing to send me a messenger flying sword to notify me of the situation, then you would already be dead now. Do you understand etiquette at all, you vagrant cultivator? Change the order around.”

Xia Zhen’s head was almost obliterated on the spot, so he hurriedly corrected in a quivering voice, “My respects to Senior Jiang, and my respects to Great Sword Immortal Li!”

Jiang Shangzhen patted Li Cai’s shoulder and said, “Don’t be like this, Big Sister Li. Are you not aware of what kind of person I am? I’ve never cared about these useless formalities.”

Li Cai humphed coldly and replied, “I’ll deal with you later. Keep in mind that I haven’t agreed to travel to Bamboo Scroll Lake to help you show off yet.”

Jiang Shangzhen’s expression was calm and relaxed as he bent down and lifted up one corner of the blankets, saying with a gentle smile, “Little girl, your newly found mommy is feeling angry now, so hurry up and grow up so you can put in some good words for daddy.”

Li Cai suppressed a smile.

Meanwhile, Xia Zhen felt like he was about to go crazy.

Jiang Shangzhen turned around to look at Xia Zhen, saying, “You’re quite similar to me during my youth, being skilled at both fighting and fleeing. This is very impressive and commendable, and it’s because of this that I spared your lowly life, thinking that you would quieten down after I met Big Sister Li and traveled south with her. In that case, I wouldn’t have punished you any further.

“However, it’s a shame that your ability to flee is half of what mine was back then, yet your brain is nothing more than scrambled tofu. The imperial preceptor of the Blissful Dream Nation explained so many facts to you, and it was as if he were a father trying to sincerely guide his son. Yet, how did you respond? You refused to listen to a single word of his.

“When I traveled around the Northern Complete Reed Continent back then, I came across many cultivators from the mountains who sought death with intent and vigor, and I kindly helped these cultivators fulfill their wishes. However, your manner of seeking death in all kinds of fresh and novel ways is truly quite a rare sight to behold.”

“I earnestly ask Senior Jiang to give me one more chance! Just one last chance!” Xia Zhen pleaded in a solemn voice.

“The great sword immortal from the north was indeed tempted by your secret letter to travel over here,” Jiang Shangzhen chuckled. “However, my wife and I worked together to fight against him, going to great efforts to finally push him back. A gigantic river bed and a massive crater were created near the large river in the central region of the continent, and I surmise that a gigantic new lake has already been created now. This sounds very fun, don’t you think?

“However, that great sword immortal was truly put in an awkward position, going as far as to suppress his nature and hide in the shadows in order to attack and kill me. Thankfully, Big Sister Li was familiar with his sword intent, or else I might have truly lost an arm or a leg at the Northern Complete Reed Continent. If the great sword immortal failed to do this, then he might as well have smacked himself to death with a block of tofu. The situation was truly very dire.

“Xia Zhen, you’re truly someone who can’t give things a rest. I’m scared of you, okay? Are you happy now? I’m begging you to spare me, Lord Xia, so can you please grant my wish?”

Xia Zhen didn’t hesitate any longer — there was definitely no way to end this encounter peacefully!

There was a loud pop.

Hundreds upon thousands of Xia Zhens materialized from his true body, with some soaring into the sky, some sprinting across the land, and some burrowing into the ground as they fled. He could survive as long as one of these clones managed to flee! This was a secret technique that required a huge price and would significantly worsen his severe wounds, but it was definitely a better option than being completely annihilated by two Upper Five Tier cultivators.

Jiang Shangzhen feigned astonishment and exclaimed, “This wasn’t how you fled last time. Good one, as expected of someone who’s an immortal in the eyes of these ants. You’re scaring me to death!”

Great Sword Immortal Li Cai pursed her lips and placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, causing it to ring softly but not leave its scabbard.

Countless streaks of snow-white sword qi surged over from all directions around Topknot Mountain, with some rushing over directly, some undulating, and some hovering slowly.

Heaven and earth fell silent at this moment.

Jiang Shangzhen reached forward and grabbed a golden core as well as a grain-sized miniature person, placing them inside his sleeve before making another grabbing motion and retrieving the limp azure snake from the ground, also placing this inside his sleeve. He appeared very irritated as he lamented, “This is so bloody annoying! I’ve somehow obtained more treasures again!”

Li Cai shot a glare at him.

Jiang Shangzhen softly called the newly given name of the swaddled baby girl a few times, saying with a faint smile, “So be it, this isn’t a big problem. I’ll just treat this as the future dowry for our baby girl.”

Li Cai felt slightly impatient as she looked at the three eyesores standing near the ruined resting pavilion, and she asked, “What should we do about these three ignorant weaklings?”

Jiang Shangzhen shot a sideways glance at the three people.

Ye Han and the others were already kneeling in mid-air.

In their eyes, Xia Zhen was someone from the pinnacle of the mountains.

Yet, he had been ruthlessly killed in the blink of an eye, just like that?

Jiang Shangzhen’s movements were gentle as he helped Li Cai straighten her sleeve, and he replied, “How about we leave it at this? Our darling daughter is still here, after all…”

As Jiang Shangzhen spoke, a willow leaf instantly pierced through the glabella of Ye Han and Fan Weiran before eventually returning to his body. He smiled and remarked, “Our daughter is sleeping anyway, so she won’t be able to see any of this.”

The corpses of the two Golden Core Tier cultivators plummeted to the foot of Topknot Mountain.

Jiang Shangzhen didn’t spare so much as a single glance at them.

Would it be worth it for Jiang Shangzhen to bend down to pick up their worthless treasures? Would this not delay his plans to make big money?

Only the second ancestor of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm remained, and the woman at the Dragon Gate Tier trembled as she remained prostrated in mid-air.

Jiang Shangzhen and Li Cai started to fly south.

Li Cai wasn’t surprised by Jiang Shangzhen’s actions at all. She was already accustomed to this.

If it weren’t for the silver-tongued man beside her, Li Cai would have already died at the bottleneck of the Golden Core Tier many years ago.

Jiang Shangzhen had lost half his life that time.

This was one of the very few losses that he had suffered during his journey around the Northern Complete Reed Continent back then.

However, even until now, Li Cai was still unsure about why Jiang Shangzhen had saved her.

His feelings for her at the time had naturally been genuine, and he had perhaps liked her a tad bit more than he had liked other beautiful women. However, this definitely wasn’t a reason for him to risk his life for her.

Li Cai had always wanted to find out the answer to this question, and she had even made a special trip to the Parasol Leaf Continent for the sake of figuring out the answer. However, she had failed to meet Jiang Shangzhen that time, and Old Sect Leader Xun Yuan of the Jade Tablet Sect had informed her that Jiang Shangzhen had entered the Cloud Cave Blessed Land and was temporarily not going to return.

In fact, Xun Yuan had even helped her scold Jiang Shangzhen, saying that disloyal bastards like him deserved to die in the Cloud Cave Blessed Land, and that Lady Li would be dirtying her eyes by taking so much as a single glance at him. It served Jiang Shangzhen right that his blessed land had become a chaotic mess, causing him to nearly die inside…

However, Li Cai was aware that Old Sect Leader Xun Yuan had still been on Jiang Shangzhen’s side, having mentioned a lot of things pertaining to her and Jiang Shangzhen in a roundabout manner. It was clear that he hoped Li Cai wouldn’t lose hope and give up on him.

Now that Li Cai had truly reunited with Jiang Shangzhen, however, the woman who was already a great sword immortal in the central region of the Northern Complete Reed Continent no longer wanted to know the answer.

Li Cai glanced back and asked, “You’re not going to say anything to him?”

Jiang Shangzhen shook his head and replied, “The connection between him and He Xiaoliang is far too strong, and you’re also by my side right now. I’m an outsider, so I’m not afraid of these troubles. However, you’re from this continent, so I can’t make things difficult for you for no good reason.”

Li Cai smiled faintly upon hearing this.

She suddenly frowned the next moment and asked, “Looking at the aftershocks rippling through the sea of black clouds before, even a weaker Nascent Tier cultivator would have struggled immensely against the heavenly tribulation descending upon Imperial Accompanying City, so how did he manage to block it?”

Jiang Shangzhen smiled and replied, “How else? He simply fought with his life on the line. Sincerity is the key to success, and this is a saying that should be believed from time to time. The plans of mortals and gods fall before the plans of the heavens, just as the principles of earth are inferior to the principles of heaven. The cultivator pretending to be the imperial preceptor of the Blissful Dream Nation has captured a sliver of this principle. However, it’s extremely rare and difficult for Nascent Tier cultivators to observe these heavenly principles, so he naturally possessed more future potential than Xia Zhen.”

Li Cai nodded in strong agreement.

“I heard that you recruited an outstanding female disciple?” Jiang Shangzhen suddenly asked. “And she now has a chance to become one of the top ten prodigies of the continent?”

There was a strange expression on Li Cai’s face.

Jiang Shangzhen rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Why are you feeling worried about me? Even rabbits don’t feed on the grass beside their nests, and I only ever like a single person from each immortal force. This is the essence of my principles — to travel through the mountains as quickly as a gust of wind, and to remain stable and ever-standing like upright pine!”

“Then why are you asking about this?” Li Cai quizzed with a frosty expression.

Jiang Shangzhen smiled and replied, “I’m just worried that she’ll follow in your footsteps and fall for the same outstanding man as her master.”

Li Cai shook her head and said, “The staunchness of her Dao Heart is even greater than the staunchness of my Dao Heart back then. She won’t fall for anyone in her lifetime. It’s often said that good women can be overwhelmed by persistent men, but this saying won’t hold true for my disciple.”

Jiang Shangzhen laughed heartily and explained, “No, you’re wrong. I’m afraid that she’ll be the one who’s persistent and clinging to my Brother Haoren.”

Li Cai snickered upon hearing this.

Jiang Shangzhen grinned and proposed, “Then how about we make a bet, Big Sister Li? If I lose, then I’ll do whatever you ask. If Big Sister Li loses, then you’ll agree to become a guest elder in my new sect at Bamboo Scroll Lake.”

“Deal!” Li Cai said with a nod.

There was a strange expression on Jiang Shangzhen’s face as he asked, “Why did Big Sister Li agree so readily? Didn’t Big Sister Li personally experience my insane gambling skills and gambling luck back then?”

Li Cai smiled faintly and replied, “My disciple needs to cultivate in seclusion for thirty years, so can that young man wander around the Northern Complete Reed Continent for thirty years?”

Jiang Shangzhen reached over and grabbed Li Cai’s sleeve, pleading, “My good sister, can you please spare me this time?”

“Can’t you settle on liking a single person?” Li Cai asked with a dejected expression.

“We can discuss this when Big Sister Li is one cultivation base higher than me,” Jiang Shangzhen replied with a faint smile.

Li Cai sighed and used the sword in her heart to sever the minor ripples in her mind. Afterward, she traveled to Skeleton Shoal with Jiang Shangzhen, where they boarded the intercontinental ship of the Flax Robe Sect to travel to the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

The bastard beside her was apparently traveling to a place called Downtrodden Mountain in the Great Li Empire’s Dragon Spring Prefecture, disguising himself as a Nascent Tier cultivator called Zhou Fei and asking for a position as a guest elder.

Judging by Jiang Shangzhen’s tone, it was no certainty that he would succeed.

Li Cai turned her head and glanced at the contemplating Jiang Shangzhen.

He had a punchable expression when he smiled and spoke.

However, he appeared extremely earnest and serious when he wasn’t smiling.

It was a shame that the only woman whom Jiang Shangzhen couldn’t get over was surprisingly an ordinary mortal woman from outside the mountains. Moreover, he never had an affair with this woman, and he simply watched from a distance as she got married, lost her beauty, grew old, and eventually died a peaceful death.

Li Cai hesitated for a moment before asking, “Jiang Shangzhen, would you still like that woman as much as you did before if you came across her today?”

“Naturally not,” Jiang Shangzhen replied with a shake of his head.

Li Cai appeared slightly puzzled.

“When seeing things for the first time, the young women in the outside world appear charming, the scenery from the mountaintops appears magnificent, looking up there are immortals soaring on clouds, and flying through the sky there are the radiant sun and moon,” Jiang Shangzhen said slowly. “The feeling of seeing these things for the first time is completely different from the feeling of seeing these things many times afterward. It’s not necessarily the case that the people or the matters are particularly attractive or magnificent the first time we see them, but the feelings that they evoke linger in my heart and remain unforgettable even after hundreds upon thousands of years.”

Jiang Shangzhen smiled and turned around, continuing, “This is just like the first time I met Big Sister Li, when you were walking up the stairs in socks…”

“Shut your mouth!” Li Cai exclaimed in embarrassment and anger.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Wife, you’re making your husband feel worried,” Jiang Shangzhen said in a gentle voice.