Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an stood up.

“Oh? Do you want to ramble on a bit more before the fight?” Gu Mo chuckled.

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “I don’t really speak during fights. Of course, this is unless you’re capable enough to make me speak so that I can secretly replenish my Qi.”

Chen Ping’an stomped his foot, causing a faint projection of a snow-white flood dragon to appear on the courtyard wall. A brilliant ray of light erupted from the wall, appearing as blinding as the blazing sun was to mortal eyes.

Rong Chang squinted his eyes slightly.

Meanwhile, Gu Mo instinctively closed her eyes. However, she immediately opened them again, knowing that things were very dire.

Everything happened in an instant.

A streak of snow-white sword light and a ray of dark-green sword light soared forth.

A figure in azure silently vanished and appeared beside Gu Mo, after which he rapidly returned to his original position and gently sat down.

Gu Mo stood still and faltered for a moment before sitting down cross-legged on the small boat and conceding, “Alright, I’ve lost. You can continue to speak your reason, and I’ll tolerate it no matter how irritating it is.”

This was the reason why Rong Chang was willing to travel with Gu Mo, and why the relationship between them was quite good.

Gu Mo slowly came to her senses and fumed, “No, something’s not right! Did Liu Jinglong draw a talisman to help you gain an advantage?!”

Qi Jinglong shook his hand and said, “This has got nothing to do with me.”

“This has indeed got nothing to do with Mr. Liu,” Rong Chang said.

Gu Mo glanced at Chen Ping’an and asked in curiosity, “Why do you have two flying swords that aren’t your bonded flying swords?”

“Are you in any position to ask me such a question?” Chen Ping’an retorted.

Gu Mo cracked a grin and replied, “But it’s a shame that I wasn’t able to summon my swords as quickly as you. In any case, this wasn’t a life-and-death battle, so I’m not so foolish as to sacrifice my life for the sake of giving you some wounds.”

Chen Ping’an sighed in his mind.

Apart from the Dao robe that she was wearing, Gu Mo was actually hiding two flying swords as well — at least two. Moreover, just like Chen Ping’an, these weren’t her bonded flying swords either. One flying sword was presumably an extremely valuable treasure of the Profound Dawn Branch, while the other flying sword was most likely a present from Duckweed Sword Lake.

In other words, the higher Gu Mo’s cultivation base, the more headaches she would give her opponents, especially after she became an earth immortal. As for advancing to the Upper Five Tiers, that would lead to a different scenario altogether. At that time, one would seek the pinnacle of all matters: the greatest destructive ability, the strongest defence, the most peculiar immortal techniques, and so on. The more terrifying one’s trump cards, the greater one’s chance of victory. Otherwise, these matters would be worthless if they couldn’t elevate one’s chance of victory.

For example, Jiang Shangzhen’s plethora of immortal treasures was naturally very useful. At the end of the day, however, they would prove to be ineffective during life and death battles against opponents of the same caliber. Even if victory and defeat were already decided, Jiang Shangzhen would still need to rely on the level of his willow leaf to conclude the battle and decide who lived and who died.

Gu Mo was able to determine straight away that First and Fifteenth weren’t Chen Ping’an’s bonded flying sword — perhaps this was the expected observation skills of disciples from large sects.

“There’s a relatively safe option right now, and that’s to wait for my master to arrive here,” Rong Chang said. “We can make a decision after she meets Sui Jingcheng. Mr. Chen and Mr. Liu, are the two of you willing to wait for a few more days?”

In truth, this was a very unreasonable request to make.

It was indeed relatively safe, but only for Rong Chang and Gu Mo.

To the young outsider standing in front of them, however, a single mistake could lead to a perilous situation filled with long-lasting negative consequences. The safest and easiest option was for Chen Ping’an to abandon Sui Jingcheng and leave today. That way, Li Cai wouldn’t be able to fault him even when she arrived at the Green Oriole Nation.

After all, could they ask Chen Ping’an to slap Sui Jingcheng awake simply because she had developed romantic feelings for him? Could she be slapped awake? Perhaps ordinary women could, but judging from Sui Jingcheng’s words and actions, she was clearly an intelligent and thoughtful person with many complicated feelings. This was in stark contrast to how direct and forthright Rong Chang’s junior sister had been on her path of cultivation in the past.

Thus, the more important Sui Jingcheng was to Duckweed Sword Lake, and the higher his master’s cultivation base, the more danger this young outsider would be in. This was because he would introduce more uncertainty.

Rong Chang hadn’t suggested this earlier for a very good reason. This request could have very easily ruined all chance of them sitting down to discuss things in a calm and friendly manner, leading to a deadly but seemingly justified battle instead.

Afterward, Rong Chang and Gu Mo could seek shelter at the Great Emblem Sword Sect.

However, Li Cai wouldn’t visit the Great Emblem Sword Sect to look for them.

Reason wouldn’t be on their side, and looking for them would also be pointless.

Cultivators in the Northern Complete Reed Continent weren’t completely unreasonable, and they instead had their own unique principles and reasons that adhered to the customs and etiquette of the continent. Of course, these principles and reasons were quite different from those of other continents.

It was because of this that so many outsider cultivators with incredibly lofty backgrounds were ruthlessly killed in the Northern Complete Reed Continent. Sometimes, even the identity of those responsible for their deaths couldn’t be determined. Apart from the younger brother of the Pure White Continent’s god of wealth and Esteemed Daoist Huangzi from Mount Longhu’s Heavenly Master Residence, there were actually several other individuals who were equally as terrifying. However, this information was suppressed, resulting in everyone apart from the sect-level immortal forces being completely oblivious. For example, there was the prized disciple of a scholarly temple’s assistant temple master.

Casting one’s gaze across those who had been killed, which of the old immortals standing behind these victims weren’t powerful and wealthy?

However, did they dare to travel to the Northern Complete Reed Continent to roll up their sleeves and show their fists?

Perhaps other things were lacking in the Northern Complete Reed Continent, but it definitely wasn’t lacking any sword immortals! It wasn’t lacking sword immortals at all!

Chen Ping’an came to a decision in his mind, but he didn’t say anything and instead looked toward Qi Jinglong.

Qi Jinglong smiled and said, “I have time to spare and nothing better to do.”

Chen Ping’an wanted to say something, but he couldn’t help but hesitate.

Qi Jinglong smiled and continued, “I haven’t spoken enough reason yet. Even if I have, the Great Emblem Sword Sect will also have its own reason to speak.”

Chen Ping’an didn’t say anything after hearing this.

He then stood up and walked over to knock on Sui Jingcheng’s door.

Qi Jinglong had already retracted the talismanic formation with a casual wave of his hand.

Chen Ping’an returned to the lotus pond with Sui Jingcheng, telling her everything that he was able to.

In the end, he smiled and asked, “You don’t need to think about anything extra right now. What do you plan to do given what I told you?”

“Will this not cause trouble for Senior and Mr. Liu?” Sui Jingcheng asked in a quiet voice.

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “When traveling on the path of cultivation, you don’t need to be afraid of troubles seeking you out as long as you don’t stir up trouble yourself.”

Gu Mo sat on the small boat and appeared even more relaxed and idle than Qi Jinglong. It looked like she was gazing at the lotus leaves in the small pond, but she was actually pricking up her ears and listening carefully the entire time. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

This wasn’t because Chen Ping’an’s reply was not to her liking, but rather that she felt like his explanation was actually quite reasonable. However, she still acted this way, and she had never refuted the fact that she had a very strong prejudice against Chen Ping’an.

Sui Jingcheng nodded and said with a smile, “Then I’ll make my decision after I meet that mighty figure?”

“That’s not an issue,” Chen Ping’an replied.

Sui Jingcheng appeared slightly downcast, with a strong look of guilt in her eyes. She wanted to say something, but she ultimately chose to remain silent.

Chen Ping’an frowned and said, “If you mull over everything, that will only cause you to drag your feet and become hesitant. That being the case, what are you still mulling over? Are you dissatisfied with your quick cultivation speed? Or are you annoyed that tempering your mind has been too relaxed and easy?”

Sui Jingcheng simply nodded in response.

She didn’t retort Chen Ping’an, but she seemingly wasn’t reflecting on her actions either.

If this were his opening disciple, Pei Qian, Chen Ping’an would have already rewarded her with a knuckle to the head.

Qi Jinglong remained sitting in the same spot, neither listening nor looking at that which was contrary to propriety.

However, his high cultivation base meant that he couldn’t stop their conversation from clearly reaching his ears.

Meanwhile, Rong Chang was probably the person who felt the gloomiest and most stifled at this moment.

Everything was already settled, so the initially hasty Gu Mo had instead become the most relaxed person now. As for Mr. Chen and Sui Jingcheng, who had a strange relationship with each other, he surprisingly felt like there was something worth ruminating on.

In the end, Gu Mo and Rong Chang also decided to stay at this immortal inn located at Dragon Head Ferry Station, choosing a relatively large courtyard.

However, their courtyard was far away from the lotus pond courtyard, and this could be regarded as a small token of sincerity. After all, this prevented the two men in azure from mistakenly thinking that Gu Mo and Rong Chang didn’t trust them.

Gu Mo and Rong Chang sat opposite each other in the courtyard.

“Rong Chang, I’m just asking on a whim, but can you truly not defeat Liu Jinglong? He can truly defeat you in a single exchange?” Gu Mo asked.

“I naturally wouldn’t lose so miserably if we were to fight for real. However, my chance of victory is indeed very miniscule,” Rong Chang replied with a smile. “Regarding Qi Jinglong’s battle with that outsider Daoist nun on Temper Mountain, either he held back, or he was able to find the key to break through to the next tier.”

Gu Mo sighed with emotion and remarked, “This Liu Jinglong is truly a freak! How can someone advance so easily without any resistance? Comparing oneself to other people is so infuriating.”

Rong Chang smiled and replied, “And what if we look at the two people ranked above Liu Jinglong? We might as well bang our heads against a well and kill ourselves, no?”

Gu Mo shook her head and said, “I won’t ever try to compare myself to those two. I won’t even think about doing so. Liu Jinglong has a very big chance of climbing to the peak of the Northern Complete Reed Continent’s mountains in the future, but those two are guaranteed to reach the peak. In fact, one of my uncle masters from another branch said with certainty that one of them even has a chance to become one of the top ten cultivators in the Middle Earth Divine Continent if they decide to travel there in the future.”

“Sword Immortal Li traveled to the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, and I’ve heard that the Wind Snow Temple’s Sword Immortal Wei Jin and the Great Li Empire’s Song Changjing are both very powerful?” Gu Mo suddenly asked.

Rong Chang nodded and replied, “They’re both very powerful, with the Great Dao being well within reach for them.”

“This is naturally the case for Wei Jin, but Song Changjing is a pure martial artist who has chosen a path with a dead end. It’s not suitable to say that the Great Dao is within reach for him, right?” Gu Mo asked in puzzlement.

Rong Chang recalled the person who had dared to act in a carefree and flippant manner around his master before, and there was a casual remark that he had made that had stuck in Rong Chang’s mind. He directly regurgitated this remark at this moment, replying, “There exist other Great Dao beyond the Great Dao of immortality.”

Gu Mo smiled and said, “This kind of remark is quite similar to the remarks of those uncle masters at Ground Lying Peak.”

Rong Chang didn’t say anything else.

Ground Lying Peak belonged to Spiritual Master Fire Dragon, after all, and the old immortal almost never concerned himself with matters pertaining to his immortal sect. Instead, he delegated everything to his disciples and grand-disciples, giving him time to sleep to his heart’s content.

Gu Mo’s master, the Profound Dawn Primordial Lord, had achieved success in cultivation and left Ground Lying Peak long ago, establishing her own peak and recruiting her own disciples.

There were three branches in addition to the Profound Dawn Branch, with all of them being extremely well-renowned forces in the Northern Complete Reed Continent. The Peach Mountain Branch was skilled at the Five Lightning Righteous Technique, the White Cloud Branch was skilled at talismanic formations, and the Secret Profound Branch was skilled at sword techniques.

The four direct disciples of Spiritual Master Fire Dragon had all made huge names for themselves in the Northern Complete Reed Continent, but without exception, they would all say that they only had a shallow understanding when they talked about the Dao teachings of their esteemed master.

Would anyone believe these modest remarks?

Yes, there were indeed people who believed this in the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

However, this wasn’t the most shocking matter. The thing that left people most speechless was a rumor that had somehow started spreading several years ago, one that had quickly swept through more than half of the Northern Complete Reed Continent. This rumor was apparently started by a direct disciple of Spiritual Master Fire Dragon, with this disciple somehow “letting slip a secret” when traveling outside the mountains and chatting casually with a mighty figure who was on their way to visit Ground Lying Peak. This disciple claimed that his master had once personally told him that the biggest regret in his life was not being capable enough when it came to slaying demons and vanquishing fiends.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon’s disciple had seemingly agreed strongly with this sentiment. Fortunately, the young Daoist priest hadn’t expressed much disdain for his master when talking about this matter.

Many sword immortals from other immortal forces wanted to forcefully press their hands on this direct disciple’s head, asking this young Daoist priest — who mostly had something wired wrong in his brain — whether he was joking or being serious?!

Of course, these sword immortals would still need to smile and respectfully see off this young Daoist priest after asking this question.

The sword immortals in the Northern Complete Reed Continent weren’t afraid of heaven and earth, nor were they afraid of any other cultivator. However, they were all afraid of Spiritual Master Fire Dragon who could be regarded as half a sword immortal.

Fortunately, this old immortal liked to sleep and didn’t like to leave the mountains.

However, similar to the young Daoist priest whose current location was unknown, there were still a dozen or so direct disciples with poor cultivation talent at Ground Lying Peak. These disciples of Spiritual Master Fire Dragon were all cultivating in thatched cottages, but in the eyes of cultivators from other sect-level immortal forces, their so-called cultivation was nothing more than… idling around and waiting for death.

Apart from these disciples, there were also many young Daoist priests and Daoist assistants. After all, these direct disciples would have disciples of their own regardless of how poor their cultivation talent was. Those at Ground Lying Peak could often listen to the teachings of Spiritual Master Fire Dragon when he wasn’t sleeping, but this was apparently still not enough to enlighten them and aid their cultivation. Indeed, it had already been a very long time since a disciple or grand-disciple from Ground Lying Peak had shocked the outside world with their cultivation talent and caused people to question reality.

To put things simply, many of those at Ground Lying Peak were flagrantly wasting a huge fated opportunity. Many earth immortal cultivators in the Northern Complete Reed Continent felt like they could quickly ascend to the heavens and advance to the Upper Five Tiers if they were to swap positions with any one of the foolish Daoist priests at Ground Lying Peak.

In this sense, Ground Lying Peak was a cultivation realm that people couldn’t understand at all. The feng shui and spiritual energy here wasn’t the best, and the disciples and grand-disciples of Spiritual Master Fire Dragon also appeared to have little chance of achieving success in cultivation and attaining the Great Dao. Thus, these Daoist priests possessed very lofty statuses, but among the several branches of Spiritual Master Fire Dragon’s disciples, these Daoist priests possessed nothing more than their lofty statuses.

Moreover, Ground Lying Peak seldom interacted with the mountain peaks of the other branches, something which wasn’t helped by Spiritual Master Fire Dragon’s frequent cultivation in seclusion… In other words, his indulgence in sleeping. As a result of this, the many cultivators of the Profound Dawn Branch, the White Cloud Branch, and the other branches didn’t have any excuse to meet and mingle. Thus, many of them were unfamiliar with their numerous uncle masters and aunty masters, having never built a close relationship with them either.

As for the origin of Ground Lying Peak’s name, there were all kinds of different theories.

The most mystical theory claimed that there had once been several powerful and ferocious flood dragons hiding around this mountain peak. Spiritual Master Fire Dragon had seen them when passing by, and due to his dislike of them, the old spiritual master had ruthlessly stomped on each of them and forced them to lie on the ground. Not only that, but the evil flood dragons hadn’t dared to move at all after being subdued by the old spiritual master.

Following his decision to remain at Ground Lying Peak to cultivate there, Spiritual Master Fire Dragon had instructed his disciples to channel a mystical ability and shift mountains and soil from some desolate areas, causing the evil flood dragon to become unmoving mountain ranges. It was said that at a minimum, Purple Edict Peak, Southern Splendor Peak, and Circling Ascension Peak had all been founded on genuine dragon veins.

As for how many evil flood dragons the old spiritual master had truly trampled on back then? Heavens knew…

Rong Chang smiled and asked, “The old spiritual master still hasn’t returned yet?”

Gu Mo felt slightly downcast as she replied, “Not yet. If Grandmaster were present, my master definitely wouldn’t have passed away.”

Rong Chang sighed softly.

There were some things that he couldn’t say directly.

For example, everyone had their own fate.

The benevolence of old immortals who had reached the lofty heights of Spiritual Master Fire Dragon couldn’t necessarily be understood by ordinary people like them.

Even so, Rong Chang sincerely respected Spiritual Master Fire Dragon from the bottom of his heart.

The same was true for his master, Li Cai.

The reason for this was very simple, pertaining to only three remarks from Spiritual Master Fire Dragon.

“We come from the mortal world outside the mountains, so we’ll eventually need to return to the mortal world beyond the mountains. We rely on our feet to walk up the mountains, and we soar on the wind to leave the mountains. Glorious feats are difficult to achieve on the path of cultivation, but small matters are easy to resolve after becoming an immortal.

“However, it’s naturally a positive if one is able to break free from the shackles of heaven and earth and witness the scenery at the absolute pinnacle. The Northern Complete Reed Continent can afford to gain more of these cultivators.

“We’re renowned as the strongest continent outside the Middle Earth Divine Continent, but we can’t allow this renown to be fully attributed to the sword. Fighting and killing all the time isn’t true power. I can kill all of you with a few simple slaps.”