Unsheathed

A young woman who had returned to her hometown from another continent left the ferry station at Ox Horn Mountain and walked into the mountains, making her way to the small town where the county office of the Locust Yellow County was located. She took a few extra glances when she walked past the hill-like True Jewel Mountain, and after entering the small town, she visited her old family home which was located not far from the mountain.

The old beast from Sun Scorch Mountain had jumped on their roof ridge and damaged it before, forcing her family of four to temporarily move in with their relatives. Afterward, her mother had grumbled for a long time about using some of their savings to repair the roof. The young woman retrieved a key and opened the door. She then went to a nearby well and drew two buckets of water, carefully cleaning both the inside and outside of the house. Only then did she lock the door and walk to the extremely quiet Yang Family’s medicine shop. Business was difficult, and only two attendants remained in the medicine shop. The young boy was Shi Lingshan, and his senior sister was Su Dian.

Shi Lingshan was resting on the counter and dozing off, while Su Dian was sitting on a long bench and silently cultivating. After breaking through to the third tier, she had received the comment of “Barrier broken, lightning essence bursting forth, the heavy cavalry slices through the formation” from her senior brother, Zheng Dafeng. He had said that this was quite outstanding and that this would help raise the quality of her Hero’s Gall in the future.

Zheng Dafeng also encouraged Su Dian to venture through an ancient battlefield ruin in the future, tempering her soul such that she could achieve double the results with half the effort. This would be especially beneficial to her cultivation when she reached the sixth tier.

However, Su Dian hadn’t felt very happy, and she had instead felt a strong sense of disappointment. This was because she understood that the barrier to the third tier was a major hurdle but also a huge opportunity at the same time. In the end, she had failed to obtain the title of strongest that she had yearned so deeply for. And now, she could only place her hopes in the fourth tier.

Su Dian was already taciturn and smiled little to begin with, and thanks to her extremely competitive nature, her inability to become the strongest at the third tier caused her to become increasingly solemn and quiet. She practiced martial arts in an almost frenzied manner every single day, with this training being separated into three types: training in the morning, training at night, and training in her dreams.

The last type was the most mystical, while the former two types were the most effective under the blazing sun and under the round moon, respectively. As for training in her dreams, this involved lighting three sticks of incense before she went to bed at night, which would allow her to enter all kinds of weird and wonderful dreams. She could fight against opponents, appear on intense battlefields, be killed in an instant, or struggle to stay alive with every fiber of her being. After her dreams ended, Su Dian wouldn’t wake up feeling mentally exhausted and physically tired, and she would instead feel refreshed and invigorated the next morning. These dreams definitely wouldn’t affect her morning training and night training.

It looked like Shi Lingshan was dozing off, but in reality, he was also cultivating in earnest. The young boy’s cultivation method was easier relative to that of his senior sister, and it was a method called “Wading in Water.”

He would wade through the river of time to temper his physique and soul.

Su Dian wasn’t aware of her master’s true identity, and she was even less privy to her master’s true cultivation base. However, there was one thing that Su Dian knew for certain. That was, the cultivation paths of her and her junior brother definitely weren’t ordinary. There were many immortals coming and going from the Locust Yellow County now, and a large number of spirits and demons were also assuming human form and appearing in the large mountains to the west. At the same time, locals of the small town and refugees belonging to the Lu Clan were continually being recruited as disciples by cultivators. Su Dian speculated that apart from Sage Ruan Qiong and his Dragon Spring Sword Sect, no one else in this region could compare to her and her junior brother.

Su Dian opened her eyes and looked at the unfamiliar customer standing outside the medicine shop. Meanwhile, Shi Lingshan remained completely unmoving, resting on the table and continuing to cultivate.

Su Dian had been half an apprentice and half an errand worker in a dragon kiln before, so to put things bluntly, she had simply been doing hard labor. Making porcelain wares in the dragon kilns had always been the most important matter in the small town, especially since these were official kilns belonging to the Great Li Empire and making porcelain wares for imperial use.

Su Dian’s nickname was Rouge, and she had relied on her uncle’s position back then to make a living at the dragon kiln. There were many rules and taboos when it came to making porcelain wares, so as a female, Su Dian had only been able to cut firewood, burn coal, transport raw materials, and complete other physical tasks. She hadn’t been allowed to get too close to the kilns when they were active, or else she would have been kicked out of the dragon kiln.

Because of her previous work, Su Dian was relatively unfamiliar with the local residents of the small town. As for her junior brother, Shi Lingshan, he was someone who hailed from a well-off family in Peach Leaf Alley, and he had always played with other children from the wealthy clans of the neighborhood and from Fortune Street during his childhood. Because of this, he was also very unfamiliar with the impoverished and shit-filled alleys such as Clay Vase Alley and Apricot Blossom Alley. At most, he was slightly familiar with the many miscellaneous shops on Dragon Riding Alley.

The slender and delicate-looking young woman glanced at Su Dian before smiling and asking in a mellow voice, “You’re Su Dian, correct?”

Su Dian had a very good impression of this customer. Her soft and gentle appearance was just like the rouge and makeup that her uncle had always talked about when he was still alive.

Su Dian nodded in response and stood up, asking, “Are you here to purchase medicinal ingredients?”

The young woman shook her head and replied, “No, I’m here to look for someone. My father used to work as a shop attendant here, and my younger brother, Li Huai, always came here to play when he was little. Have you heard about them before?”

Su Dian’s expression changed slightly.

Li Huai? That young boy wearing Confucian robes who had seemingly swallowed the courage of one hundred lions?

How did such a bold and reckless young boy have such a gentle and soft older sister? The young woman standing in front of her looked like a willow branch in spring, with her voice pleasant to the ears and her appearance kind to the eyes. She wasn’t the type of beauty that men would fall for at a single glance, but she had an appearance that could be appreciated for a very long time. Even a good-looking young girl like Su Dian found her beautiful.

“Are you looking for my master?” Su Dian asked in a soft voice.

The young woman smiled and nodded in response.

Su Dian felt slightly conflicted.

Right at this moment, however, Old Man Yang appeared at the door to the backyard in a rare scene. He lifted the curtain with his smoking pipe and chuckled, “You’ve arrived? Come on in.”

Li Liu entered the backyard.

Old Man Yang sat on the steps and continued to smoke, while Li Liu casually picked a chair to sit down on.

“If you have something to say about the new blessed land of Downtrodden Mountain, then you should go ahead and say it. There’s no need to be afraid of anything,” Old Man Yang said. “It looks like many things are affected, but in reality, these are matters that fall within the expected scope and adhere to the rules. This involves supremely lofty mighty figures, after all, so they should be tolerant enough when it comes to such matters. The current physical bodies of you people are a restriction, but it at least provides a certain amount of benefit as well.”

Li Liu nodded and asked, “You didn’t tell Zheng Dafeng to call me here for just this, right?”

“Mhm, Ruan Qiong coincidentally looked for me recently, and what he discussed also pertained to the blessed lands,” Old Man Yang replied. “You can review some of the information, which is still sitting with me. When you leave, you can visit Divine Elegance Mountain after you visit Downtrodden Mountain.”

There was a deep and solemn look in Li Liu’s eyes.

“With no Dao remaining, what’s the point of focusing on battles between Great Dao? Is this not a joke?” Old Man Yang asked with a chuckle. “If you ask me, I’d say that you should forget about your ancient grudges with her. Of course, I surmise that neither of you will listen to my persuasions, or else things back then… Forget about it. What’s in the past is in the past, so there’s no point mentioning it again. If we truly delve into it, everyone involved was wrong in one way or another. In any case, even if the two of you truly want to lock horns again, now is not the right time.”

One was the ruler of the cultivation world.

One was a lofty fire goddess.

It was simply the case that their Great Dao had collapsed, the world around them had changed, and their physical bodies were now different. However, the foundations of their godly bodies still existed.

As for why he, the prisoner who was most senior and had the highest status in the world, was still able to cling onto life and survive until today…

…This was a question that needed to be posed to three people and two gods.

Of the two gods, one had decided why sword cultivators possessed the greatest destructive ability, yet found it incredibly difficult to advance to the legendary fourteenth tier. The other had decided why all of the martial arts paths in the world led to dead ends, and why Militarian cultivators among Qi refiners could enjoy the unique benefit of essentially not being affected by karmic fate.

“I feel like it’s not possible,” Li Liu suddenly said.

Old Man Yang chuckled coldly and retorted, “Who was it back then that claimed those ants could rise to the pinnacle and would possibly succeed?”

Li Liu remained silent.

Indeed, Old Man Yang had been speaking the truth just then. If they truly delved into it, everyone involved had been wrong in one way or another.

Old Man Yang tapped the ground with his smoking pipe, giving rise to a small temple that was shrouded in mist. It rolled along the ground before gradually coming to a stop.

A small incense person ran out from the temple, earnestly dragging two “large plaques” along with it. In reality, it was a jade tablet and a seal.

Li Liu glanced at the two items and asked with a chuckle, “Liu Xianyang, who was borrowed by the Pure Confucian Chen Clan, will definitely join the Dragon Spring Sword Sect?”

“Ruan Qiong feels like there’s only a slim chance of Liu Xianyang returning, but in truth, the possibility is actually quite big,” Old Man Yang replied.

The small incense person sprinted over to Li Liu’s feet.

Li Liu picked up the keys to the small world and the blessed land.

She had little interest in them.

They were nothing more than old and shattered lands.

Li Liu, Ruan Xiu, Li Er, Zheng Dafeng, Fan Junmao, and the others were all slightly different.

As for Virtuous Scholar Zhou Ju from Lake View Academy, Sun Jiashu from Old Dragon City, and Little Cui from the small immortal force in the Northern Complete Reed Continent’s Treasure Basin Immortal Realm, these individuals were even less capable of comparing to her.

The immortal realm inside the painting left behind for the Flax Robe Sect by the eight divine maidens of Skeleton Shoal’s Mural City was also a shattered world. In fact, it could be regarded as one of Li Liu’s summer residences, and it was because of this that the Rain Bringer Divine Maiden had felt uneasy upon seeing Li Liu. It was like a petty official from a mortal empire coming across a lofty official from the Ministry of Personnel. This hadn’t been a misperception by the Rain Bringer Divine Maiden, and the reality had indeed been such.

The positions of the eight divine maidens from Mural City were roughly equivalent to those of the six supervisory divisions in the mortal imperial courts. Of course, it was only similar, with the eight divine maidens actually possessing slightly greater power. They could patrol heaven and earth and constrain, surveil, and impeach the deities from the various departments. It could be said that their positions were low, but their power was great.

Compared to the other people that Old Man Yang had guided step by step to that ancient path, the biggest difference about Li Liu was that she hadn’t needed her memories to be unlocked. This was because she had been born with the memories of her past life. For many sect-level immortal forces, they needed to spend a huge amount of resources to look for the reincarnations of their old ancestors following their passing.

For example, the sect rejuvenation leader of the Parasol Leaf Sect had instructed disciples to venture outside the mountains to search for his mother. However, the reincarnations of these individuals wouldn’t necessarily be able to regain their past memories even if they were found. Similarly, possessing a good aptitude for cultivation didn’t necessarily imply that they could definitely return to the pinnacle of the mountains.

Li Liu casually put the jade tablet and the seal away. After thinking for a short moment, she sighed and said, “You still don’t want me and her to reignite our old grudges.”

If Chen Ping’an wasn’t enough, then there was also Li Huai. If the two of them still weren’t enough, then they could also add Liu Xianyang.

This was a deeply hidden conflict between fire and water, and it was Chen Ping’an who had temporarily stood in for Li Liu to compete against Ruan Xiu. This was because back then, Chen Ping’an was the one who should have obtained the fated opportunity pertaining to the catfish, not Gu Can.

Moreover, why had Ruan Xiu always viewed Chen Ping’an differently and given him special treatment? Things were perhaps becoming increasingly complicated now, but in the beginning, it definitely hadn’t been as simple as Ruan Xiu feeling like Chen Ping’an’s mind was very pure and limpid. Rather, Ruan Xiu looking at Chen Ping’an at the time had been like an old Taotie salivating as it gazed at the most delicious food in the world. Ruan Xiu had been unable to shift her gaze.

Li Huai, the younger brother of Li Liu, was also Qi Jingchun’s disciple, and thanks to a stroke of fate, Chen Ping’an had once acted as Li Huai’s Dao guardian for a period of time. If Li Liu wanted to settle old grudges with Ruan Xiu, then she needed to first kill Chen Ping’an, someone who possessed a strong innate affinity with water, to completely monopolize that Great Dao. However, this was something that Li Huai definitely wouldn’t allow, and Li Liu was also unwilling to cause grief for her younger brother.

But to not kill Chen Ping’an was an unreliable approach.

Thus, Old Man Yang needed to create some legitimate reasons and possibilities for Liu Xianyang to return to the Dragon Spring Sword Sect. For example, a blessed land that was not part of the thirty-six small worlds mutually complementing Liu Xianyang’s ancestral sword scripture.

With both Chen Ping’an and Liu Xianyang present, the relationship between Downtrodden Mountain and the Dragon Spring Sword Sect would only grow closer and closer.

Old Man Yang didn’t refute anything, but his gaze was cold as he said firmly, “Everyone has made mistakes before, but the two of you made extremely big mistakes!”

Li Liu didn’t feel fearful, nor did she feel remorseful. She looked up at the sky and conceded, “That’s probably true.”

“All kinds of mud and impurities might be easily shaken off by you and the others, but you still need to be careful,” Old Man Yang suddenly warned. “Otherwise, there will eventually come a day when some unremarkable mud acts like ink paste seeping into the seals, causing you and the others to suffer grave consequences.”

Li Liu shook her head and replied, “There’s no need to say these things to me. I know what I’m doing.”

She then smiled gracefully and looked at the old man.

Old Man Yang couldn’t help but chuckle, and it was as if he were finding an excuse for himself as he said, “I’ve been sitting in this cage for ten thousand years, so am I not allowed to find some entertaining ways to alleviate my boredom?”

Li Liu held back a smile and said, “My father is doing well, especially since he needs to leave some martial fortune for the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. However, my mother didn’t actually need to go to the Northern Complete Reed Continent.”

Old Man Yang remained silent, with his expression slightly dark.

His mood would turn sour whenever he thought about that woman who was like a bitter shrew who ate several kilograms of arsenic every single day.

She was someone detested by gods and ghosts alike, akin to the feces of flies in censers. Just taking an extra glance at her would be soiling one’s eyes.

Li Huai and his mother were different from his father, Li Er, and his older sister, Li Liu. The two of them were only ordinary people. Of course, Li Huai was human, but he was definitely no ordinary human.

There didn’t exist any other child in the world who had fortunes lining up for them to collect. Huang Ting from the Parasol Leaf Continent’s Peace and Tranquility Mountain and He Xiaoliang from the Divine Edict Sect were both regarded as cultivators who possessed unparalleled fortune in their continents. Compared to Li Huai’s peerless dumb luck, however, it appeared as the young boy’s fortunes were even more unfathomable.

Huang Ting and He Xiaoliang still needed to contemplate how they should firmly grab their fated opportunities, lest fortune and disaster come hand in hand. Meanwhile, did Li Huai need to consider these matters at all? He was the type of person who would naturally attract fortune, and he might even worry about these fortunes being too heavy or not looking nice.

With this in mind, Old Man Yang could make some more exceptions for Li Huai, ones that didn’t pertain to any business transactions. The old man truly liked this young boy, after all.

The Jewel Small World had existed for a very long time, but only a very small number of people had been allowed to enter the backyard of the Yang family’s medicine shop. Children like Li Huai were thus very rare.

As for Li Huai’s mother, it was precisely because she was an ordinary mortal human that the old man couldn’t be bothered making a fuss with her. However, if she were Peach Leaf Alley’s Xie Shi or Clay Vase Alley’s Cao Xi? If they had dared to act like Li Huai’s mother, would they still have managed to leave the Jewel Small World?