Unsheathed

Traveling through foreign lands during Plum Rain, the ninth solar term and the early stages of summer, was already a very frustrating and stifling matter to begin with. This wasn’t made any better by the fact that there was seemingly a saber placed on his neck, something that caused Old Assistant Minister Sui Xinyu to feel even more anxious.

When he passed the relay stations and looked at the poems of frustration and lamentation on the walls, the assistant minister who was a great literati felt a sense of genuine empathy. There were several times when he had drunk wine to wash away his sorrows, causing the young boy and the young girl to feel increasingly worried. Only the young woman wearing a veiled hat remained calm and composed.

The four of them only dared to ride along the official roads as they traveled to the capital of the Five Mountain Nation, and when evening arrived today, the torrential downpour finally calmed down. However, even though they had ridden as quickly as possible through the torrential downpour before, they would still fail to arrive at the next relay station before night set in. This caused the old assistant minister, who was wearing a bamboo hat, to feel extremely miserable as he took off his raincoat.

The old assistant minister looked around and had a nagging feeling that there were lurking dangers all around them. If it weren’t for the old assistant minister’s relatively good health and his habit of traveling around the nation with his old friends after he retired from the imperial court and returned to his hometown, he would have already fallen sick and become frail after fleeing for so long and experiencing so many hardships.

An unfamiliar face appeared from a hidden area near the official road, and it was none other than the member of the cultivation world who had appeared in the small pavilion on the ancient trade route before, a young and sturdy man with a meaty face. He held a saber in one hand as he stood thirty or so paces away from the four steeds from the Sui Clan, and upon seeing them ride over on their horses, he immediately started to charge over without saying so much as a single word.

“Save us, Sword Immortal!” Sui Xinyu shouted loudly.

However, there was no response as heaven and earth remained silent.

Afterward, the frantic sound of galloping hooves sounded beside the old assistant minister who had suddenly pulled back his reins and stopped his horse. Looking over, it was the young woman in a veiled hat who was charging forward on her horse.

There was a flash of saber light as the horse charged past the saber-wielding man.

The young woman was seemingly struck in the waist by the saber, with her slender body leaning sideways as she tumbled off her horse and started to cough up blood.

Meanwhile, the saber-wielding man was carried forward by his momentum, yet he eventually slowed down and stumbled forward before limply collapsing to the ground.

His face, neck, and chest were all struck by a golden hairpin, weapons that appeared like the hidden blades of martial artists from the cultivation world, yet also appeared a bit like the flying swords of immortals. Things would have been very precarious if fewer than three hairpins had been launched, and the saber-wielding martial artist might not have been killed in an instant.

The golden hairpin in his face had only just pierced into his flesh, and the wound was actually nowhere near as serious as the flowing blood suggested. Meanwhile, the golden hairpin in his chest had missed by an inch, failing to accurately pierce through his heart. Only the golden hairpin in his neck had accurately pierced through a critical area and resulted in a deadly wound.

The young woman wearing a veiled hat stood up shakily, touching her abdomen as she did so. For some unknown reason, the martial artist had turned his saber around and struck her with the spine of the blade instead, most likely seeking to wound her instead of kill her. Sui Jingcheng tried her best to calm down her breathing, and she vaguely heard a soft twang traveling over from very far away.

She immediately turned around and shouted, “Be careful! Hurry up and dismount and hide!”

Someone drew a large bow and unleashed a powerful shot, with a deadly arrow whistling through the air and immediately arriving with terrifying might.

Blood seeped out from the corners of Sui Jingcheng’s mouth, and she endured the agonizing pain pulsing through her side as she focused her attention and silently recited a mantra, forming a hand seal according to the secret diagrams recorded in the small book that a mighty figure had gifted her back then. She twisted her slender hip and flicked her sleeve, causing the three golden hairpins to fly out from the corpse on the official road and streak toward the fearsome arrow.

The golden hairpins were incredibly quick, and even though they had been summoned after the release of the arrow, they were still able to crash into the arrow and create three small sparks. Even so, the path of the arrow remained unchanged as it viciously flew toward the head of the old assistant minister who was still sitting high on his horse.

There was a look of despair on Sui Jingcheng’s face. Even though she had secretly given her plain bamboo robe to her father to wear, what could a fabled immortal Dao robe do if one were struck in the head by an arrow? How could the Dao robe possibly save him?

Sui Jingcheng widened her eyes, with tears immediately flowing down her cheeks.

Her true emotions were laid bare at this critical moment of life and death.

Even though Sui Jingcheng didn’t completely approve of her father’s character and his decisions as an official, the familial bonds between them couldn’t be faked.

Part of the reason why Sui Jingcheng had given the incredibly thin and light bamboo Dao robe to her father was because she was temporarily safe from any life-threatening dangers. However, not all of the sons and daughters in the world would be willing to take such a huge gamble when facing adversity and great dangers. This was especially the case for intelligent cultivators like Sui Jingcheng, whose ambitions were to attain Dao and achieve immortality.

In the next moment…

A figure in white carrying a sword on his back suddenly materialized in front of them, standing on the arrow and causing it to stop in mid-air near Sui Xinyu and his steed. He then gracefully hovered to the ground, with the arrow also falling and disintegrating into ashes.

Another arrow whistled over with deadly intent, so quick that it created a huge boom as it sliced through the air. Before the ferocious arrow arrived, they could even hear the sound of a bowstring snapping in the distance.

However, the arrow exploded into pieces as the young man in white caught it in his hand.

The sword immortal in white looked toward the origin of the arrow and asked with a smile, “Don’t you wield a saber, Xiao Shuye? Why are you suddenly wielding a bow?”

After saying this, Chen Ping’an immediately dashed toward the assailant in the distance.

“Be careful of this being a plan to lure you away…!” Sui Jingcheng shouted.

However, the sword immortal who had changed his outfit continued to pursue Xiao Shuye by himself, transforming into a ray of dizzying white light that shot up from the ground and raced into the distance.

Sui Jingcheng immediately mounted her horse, waving her hand at the same time and retrieving the three golden hairpins from the ground, placing them back inside her sleeve. She then turned to the three people and urged loudly, “Make haste and leave!”

The four steeds from the Sui Clan immediately raced away.

There was still no sign of the relay station after riding for several kilometers, and Old Assistant Minister Sui Xinyu felt like his old bones were about to fall apart from the bumpy ride. There were tears of pain in his eyes.

Sui Jingcheng raised a hand and suddenly stopped her horse.

The three other people hurriedly pulled back their reins and stopped their horses as well.

Cao Fu stood on the road with a hand behind his back, extending his other hand toward the young woman wearing a veiled hat as he said with a smile, “Jingcheng, follow me to the mountains to cultivate. As long as you’re willing to enter the mountains with me, I can promise you that the descendants of the Sui Clan will all enjoy tremendous wealth in the future.”

Sui Xinyu’s expression changed again and again.

Sui Jingcheng chuckled coldly and replied, “If what you say is true, Cao Fu, then is there any need for you to put in so much effort and go to such great lengths? With the temper of my father and the Sui Clan, they would happily hand me over if such an offer were placed in front of them. If my guess is correct, then the disciple of Turbid River Flood Dragon Yang Yuan had an accidental slip of the tongue before and mentioned that the new ranking for the ten superior grandmasters has already come out, with our Five Mountain Nation’s Senior Wang Dun seemingly ranking last?

“That being the case, the ranking for the so-called four beauties has presumably come out as well? What, perhaps I, Sui Jingcheng, was fortunate enough to make this list? What’s the go with this? If my guess is correct, then your terrestrial immortal master is genuinely hellbent on getting his hands on me. However, it’s a shame that the two of you might not be able to protect me, to say nothing of the Sui Clan. That being the case, you could only come up with a secret scheme to hastily bring me to your cultivation abode first.”

Cao Fu retracted his hand and slowly walked forward, saying, “You’ve always been this astonishingly bright and intelligent, Jingcheng, and this is as expected of someone who possesses strong karmic ties to Dao. Become my Dao partner, and we can ascend the mountains and travel afar together, soaring freely on the winds and clouds. Will that not be delightful and satisfying?

“After becoming a cultivator who can feed on iridescent clouds and dew, sixty years in the mortal world will pass by in the mere blink of an eye. At that time, your so-called relatives would have already become piles of white bone. Is there any need to dwell on them? If you truly feel guilty, and if disaster truly strikes the Sui Clan, they should still feel fortunate if a few of their descendants manage to survive and carry on the bloodline. Once you and I both become earth immortals, the Sui Clan can easily rise to prominence in the Five Mountain Nation again.”

Sui Xinyu finally understood the hidden meaning behind Cao Fu’s words. It was only at this moment that he came to a sudden realization. As it turned out, Cao Fu only cared about the life and death of Sui Jingcheng. Once his daughter was taken away, the Sui Clan would seemingly face an existential crisis?

Sui Xinyu unleashed a torrent of abuse, scolding, “Cao Fu, I’ve always treated you kindly, so why are you trying to bring down my Sui Clan?!”

Cao Fu smiled faintly and replied, “Uncle Sui has naturally treated me kindly, and it was because of your incredibly good observation skills and foresight that you chose me as your son-in-law back then. As such, if Uncle Sui is unable to personally accept my gift of gratitude, then once I cultivate and attain Dao with Jingcheng in the future, then I’ll naturally offer this gift of gratitude to the descendants of the Sui Clan at that time.”

Sui Xinyu was incandescent with rage as he placed a hand on his forehead.

Cao Fu glanced into the distance and continued, “Now is not the time to chit-chat. Jingcheng, I’m going to give you one final chance. If you obediently leave with me, then I can let your three companions live. If you continue to refuse, however, and if I’m forced to knock you unconscious and drag you away, then you won’t be able to see the corpses of these three people either. In that case, you can save some time and effort in the future as you’ll no longer need to visit your relatives like the empresses of the mortal empires. When the Tomb-Sweeping Festival arrives, you and I can also stand alone on the mountains as husband and wife, honoring those who have already passed.”

Sui Jingcheng took off her veiled hat and casually threw it away, asking, “The two of us riding together to the immortal mountains? Are you not afraid of the sword immortal returning to hunt us down after he kills Xiao Shuye?”

Cao Fu retrieved a few talismans and replied with a confident expression, “You can be regarded as half a cultivator now, so you and I will be able to soar on the wind after we stick on these talismans, albeit with some difficulty.”

Sui Jingcheng dismounted her horse and replied, “I accept your offer.”

Cao Fu extended a hand and said, “Now, that’s the way. When you witness genuine immortal mountains, immortal cultivators, and immortal techniques in the future, you’ll come to understand just how correct your decision today was.”

There were fewer than ten steps between the two of them.

Three golden hairpins suddenly shot out from Sui Jingcheng’s side, traveling as quick as lightning as they darted through the air. However, Cao Fu flicked his large sleeve and caught them in his hand. Even though he was only holding the radiant golden hairpins very lightly in his hand, they still seared his palm and cracked his skin, causing his hand to immediately become mangled and bloody.

Cao Fu frowned and retrieved a golden paper talisman that his master had bestowed upon him before, silently reciting a mantra and enveloping the three golden hairpins inside a barrier. Only then did they grow dim. He then carefully placed them inside his sleeve and said with a smile, “Rest assured, Jingcheng, I won’t get angry with you. It’s this defiant and untamed nature of yours that tempts me the most.”

Cao Fu’s gaze moved around Sui Jingcheng as he said, “However, you went back on your word first, so don’t blame your husband for breaking his promise as well.”

Cao Fu faltered at this moment and asked with an exasperated smile, “What’s wrong? Is there someone behind me? Jingcheng, do you know that understanding how to comprehend one’s destiny and follow the great trend is a critical subject that one must master when cultivating in the mountains?”

However, he saw that Sui Jingcheng’s expression was slightly strange.

Cao Fu suddenly turned his head, only to see that there was no one behind him.

Sui Jingcheng gritted her teeth and gathered all of the spiritual energy in her acupoints, causing the small amount of accumulated spiritual energy to surge into her wrist and cause her veins to become a glowing white color. She stepped forward and launched a furious palm strike at the back of Cao Fu’s head.

However, Cao Fu turned around and reached back, easily catching Sui Jingcheng’s pale wrist which was brimming with spiritual energy. He then pulled her forward and raised his elbow, striking her in the forehead and forcefully pushing her to the ground. Sui Jingcheng collapsed in a heap, and Cao Fu stepped on her elbow before leaning over her and chuckling, “Do you know that a genuine cultivator like me can clearly determine whether or not there is someone standing behind me simply by focusing my attention and looking into your watery eyes? I only turned around to give you some hope before promptly crushing it and sending you into despair.”

Cao Fu twisted the tip of his toes, eliciting a muffled groan from Sui Jingcheng. He then jabbed two fingers into her forehead and channeled a restriction technique, after which he smiled faintly and continued, “Since things have already come to this, I might as well tell you the truth. After the Great Seal Script Empire nominated you as the ‘Jade Person of the Sui Clan’ and one of the four greatest beauties, you were only left with three options to choose from.

“The first option was to follow your father to the capital of the Great Seal Script Empire and be nominated as an imperial concubine for the crown prince. The second option was to be stopped by the secret envoy of some nation’s emperor while traveling to the capital of the Great Seal Script Empire, eventually being brought back to become the empress of a small border nation. The final option was to be brought back to the immortal force located on the border of the Green Shrine by me, where my master would refine you into a living cauldron and teach you a secret technique.

“Afterward, my master would have gifted you to a genuine immortal, the uncle master of the Golden Scale Palace’s palace leader. However, you don’t need to feel afraid about this, especially since this is a stroke of great fortune for you, having the chance to perform dual cultivation with a Nascent Tier immortal. This will naturally allow you to advance in leaps and bounds on the path of cultivation. Xiao Shuye wasn’t aware of these matters at all.

“In any case, how could the sword cultivator whom we encountered by chance possibly be a Golden Core Tier cultivator from the Golden Scale Palace or whatnot? Those were nothing but lies, and I was simply too lazy to expose him. However, this coincidentally allowed me to make the most of Xiao Shuye’s strength. In fact, my master and I will have still made a huge profit even if Xiao Shuye is to be killed.”

Cao Fu sighed with emotion and remarked, “Jingcheng, the two of us truly aren’t fated to be together. The copper coin divination that you performed before was actually correct.”

After saying this, he helped Sui Jingcheng up, retrieving two talismans before bending down and placing them on Sui Jingcheng’s toes. He then looked at the three steeds from the Sui Clan and said, “Regardless, all of them are going to die soon.”

Right at this moment, a familiar voice suddenly sounded beside Cao Fu’s ears, saying, “Is that all? Are there no more secrets that you want to reveal? Judging from what you said, it’s actually the old ancestor of the Golden Scale Palace who wants to obtain Sui Jingcheng? And your master wants to obtain Sui Jingcheng’s Dao treasures? Then what about you? After spending so much effort to come here and racking your brain to analyze the situation and scheme, you’re going to end up completely empty-handed with no reward at all?”

Cao Fu smiled bitterly and stood up straight, turning around to look at the cultivator in azure who was wearing a bamboo hat and standing right beside him. “Didn’t you leave to pursue Xiao Shuye?” Cao Fu asked.

“You call yourself a genuine cultivator, yet you’ve never witnessed a roaming yin soul before?” the cultivator in azure asked.

“Sword cultivators seem to very rarely roam around with their yin souls,” Cao Fu replied in helplessness.

The cultivator in azure nodded and replied, “And that’s why you should avoid doing bad things if you don’t have much experience in the cultivation world.”

Cao Fu wanted to say something else.

However, he immediately fell back, unconscious.

Chen Ping’an waved a hand and dispersed the spiritual energy restriction that Cao Fu had placed on Sui Jingcheng’s forehead.

He then flicked his sleeve, sweeping the corpse of the saber-wielding martial artist off the official road and causing it to crash into the grass far away.

A streak of white flew over on a sword from very far away, hovering just seven to eight meters above the ground as it held a lifeless head with an expression of misery and confusion in its hand. It gracefully landed on the official road and merged together with the cultivator in azure, causing ripples to appear as they fused into one person.

The lifeless head appeared in Chen Ping’an’s hand.

He turned to Sui Jingcheng and asked, “You’re a very clever person, so have you decided what path you want to take in the future?”

Sui Jingcheng fell to her knees and started to kowtow, replying, “The Sui Clan will definitely be destroyed if I stay in the Five Mountain Nation, and it will only have a sliver of a chance to survive if I leave. Esteemed Immortal, I beseech you to please accept me as your disciple!”

Chen Ping’an glanced at the veiled hat that Sui Jingcheng had casually thrown to the ground just then as he smiled and responded, “If you had embarked on the path of cultivation earlier, then you could have become an official immortal in an immortal force with orderly systems and inheritances. In that case, you would have definitely reached an impressive cultivation base by today.”