Unsheathed

“I came here after witnessing what happened in the Sacred Lotus Nation. Have you managed to gather any information?” Huan Yun asked with a smile.

Shen Zhenze shook his head as he replied, “It happened without any warning, and it only lasted a fleeting instant. All we know is that it took place quite close to the Rainbow Sparrow Residence, and that one of the people paying homage to the fallen sword immortal was Liu Jinglong. As for the other sword immortal, we have no information on him at all.

“We weren’t able to find any leads in the southern and northern neighbors of the Sacred Lotus Nation, nor in our Celestial Water Nation. Having said that, such a mighty sword immortal is not someone that we could hope to befriend anyway. In contrast, the Rainbow Sparrow Residence has an advantage over us in this regard, given that the head of their residence is an acquaintance of Liu Jinglong.”

“Your words reek of envy,” Huan Yun jibed.

“So what if I’m envious?” Shen Zhenze admitted in a candid fashion. “You can say it was entirely down to luck that Residence Head Sun Qing managed to acquaint herself with Liu Jinglong, but I’d say luck is a part of her abilities as well.”

Huan Yun didn’t tease Shen Zhenze any further on this matter.

Given the less than optimistic situation that Cloudtop City was in, it was only normal for Shen Zhenze to raise some gripes to his old friend.

At the moment, Cloudtop City was plagued by multiple concerns, chief among which was the fact that Shen Zhenze’s cultivation aptitude was inferior to that of Sun Qing, and it certainly also didn’t help his cause that she was a stunning celestial maiden.

Furthermore, the Rainbow Sparrow Residence had much more lucrative money-making avenues, and if they wanted to, they could even produce a second Golden Core Tier earth immortal through the sheer weight of money alone. In contrast, Cloudtop City was in a bit of a minor crisis. Among Shen Zhenze’s current collection of direct disciples, there wasn’t even a single Dragon Gate Tier cultivator.

Huan Yun had also identified the awkward situation that Cloudtop City was in, and that was why he had intentionally come to pay Shen Zhenze a visit after sixty years, openly displaying his friendship with Shen Zhenze to all those who harbored ill intent toward Cloudtop City.

“If that sword immortal that was with Liu Jinglong that night would be willing to ally himself with our Cloudtop City as you have, I would have nothing to worry about, aside from the fact that I’m still one of the most useless Golden Core Tier cultivators around,” Shen Zhenze sighed in self-deprecating fashion.

“Don’t get disheartened,” Huan Yun consoled with a shake of his head. “According to the teachings of Daoism, if one has unknowingly shattered one’s own resolve, then their Great Dao would truly be severed.”

A wry smile appeared on Shen Zhenze’s face.

He was aware of these principles, but certain things simply couldn’t be helped.

————

Over at the market, Chen Ping’an was still squatting behind his stall with his hands tucked up their opposite sleeves, and he took a glance up at the sky to gauge roughly what time of day it was. If that person still didn’t come, then he would have to pack up and leave in an hour at most.

The ship wasn’t going to wait for anyone.

Of the fifty talismans that he had initially laid out, all that remained was a single Celestial Lightning Talisman.

As for all of the other miscellaneous items, they had also all been mostly sold, and they had only amounted to fewer than eighty snowflake coins in total earnings.

The main source of revenue was still those talismans.

It was a very rare sight to see a vagrant cultivator attracting so much business as a traveling salesman.

It was clear to everyone that the cultivator who had come to purchase the second half of Chen Ping’an’s talismans was a cultivator of Cloudtop City, and compared with the old man, he was significantly lacking in both expertise in talismans and business acumen.

Thankfully for him, Chen Ping’an was a very scrupulous businessman. Otherwise, if he had raised his prices on a whim, then he could’ve easily coaxed over a hundred more snowflake coins out of the unwitting customer.

As a salesman, the best customers were the ones who were forced for whatever reason to make a purchase, and they attempted to hide their desperation, but were betrayed by their lackluster acting skills.

Essentially, they were lambs sent to the slaughter, and Chen Ping’an could’ve extorted him however he pleased.

Chen Ping’an closed his eyes to nap as he basked under the early winter sun.

Many of the other passengers from the ship who had come to try their luck in the market had already begun packing up their stalls, and judging from their expressions, it seemed that most of them had not had much luck in selling their wares.

Around fifteen minutes later, a man pretended to visit a few of the nearby stalls, then slowly made his way over to Chen Ping’an’s stall, where he squatted down with a smile as he asked, “Are you having trouble selling this stuff?”

“What do you want? Have you managed to find some money on the ground while walking?” Chen Ping’an snapped. “Do you want to take this stuff off my hands? How about this? I’ll give you a 30% discount on everything, including this lightning talisman?”

The man fell into a disgruntled silence, and Chen Ping’an didn’t say anything else, either.

The man began looking through the remaining items on Chen Ping’an’s stall, examining everything with the exception of the lightning talisman.

Occasionally, he would ask for the price of one of the miscellaneous items, and Chen Ping’an would reply with a number, nothing more and nothing less. It seemed that he was about to pack up and leave.

Right as Chen Ping’an reached out to pack up his things, the man gritted his teeth, then asked, “If you’re not going to be able to sell this lightning talisman anyway, then how about you sell it to me for a discount?”

Chen Ping’an took a glance at the man’s boots. They were very well-worn, but they had been mended extensively, giving them a very patchy appearance.

“You’re a cultivator, don’t you feel ashamed going around wearing such shoddy boots?” Chen Ping’an scoffed.

The man faltered slightly upon hearing this, then reflexively shuffled his foot back as he snapped in an enraged manner, “What’re you looking at my boots for?! They’re fine as long as they can be worn! What’s your problem!”

Chen Ping’an also flew into a rage as he yelled, “You better put a bit more respect in your tone! How dare a mere fourth tier cultivator like you speak so rudely to an Abode Tier cultivator!”

The man immediately fell silent, and he was feeling rather unsure of himself. He took a glance at Chen Ping’an’s black robe, which was clearly a Dao robe that not even all official immortals were guaranteed to be able to afford, and he knew that this wasn’t someone that he could afford to mess with.

Thus, he decided to give up on the lightning talisman. There was no reason for him to stay and continue to be mocked.

To his surprise, the stall owner said, “I’m about to pack up and leave. Business went really well for me today, and this is the final talisman left, so I won’t keep it. That way, I’ll be able to start anew, instead of keeping this talisman and potentially having it ruin my luck for next time.

“If I recall correctly, you bought something from me for five snowflake coins earlier, right? If you give that thing back to me, I’ll sell you this priceless lightning talisman for half price. What do you say?”

A conflicted look appeared on the man’s face.

He took a glance down at the pair of old boots on his feet. He wasn’t actually so poor that he couldn’t afford a new pair. In the mortal world, even the most expensive boots wouldn’t be worthy anywhere near a single snowflake coin.

However, as someone who had traveled far from home, he had to have something that reminded him of home.

For a vagrant cultivator of a lowly cultivation base like him, the world was a very dangerous place, and he led a very unpredictable and perilous life. If he didn’t have something that he could hold near and dear to his heart other than cultivation, then every day would feel like grueling torture.

The man waved a hand as he stood up and said, “I’ll pass.”

Chen Ping’an tucked his hands back up their opposite sleeves, then gestured toward the lightning talisman with his chin as he said, “So be it. Like I said, I don’t want this talisman ruining my luck in doing business for next time, so I’ll sell it to you for half price. You can have it for eight snowflake coins.”

“How about seven?” the man bartered.

Chen Ping’an’s response was brisk and concise: “Piss off.”

The man hurriedly squatted back down and picked up the lightning talisman, but as he reached into his pocket to pay, he suddenly stopped what he was doing and asked, “You haven’t replaced the actual talisman for a counterfeit one to scam me, have you?”

“Piss off,” Chen Ping’an repeated, his expression completely unchanged.

After extensive deliberation and examination, the man threw down the eight snowflake coins, then stood up and departed. Once he was around ten meters away, he suddenly broke into an all-out sprint, seemingly concerned that Chen Ping’an would change his mind on the sale.

This time, it was Chen Ping’an’s turn to feel suspicious. He picked up the snowflake coins one by one before carefully examining them, only to discover that they were all authentic.

After packing up the stall, his bag was a lot lighter as he returned to the ship.

He was planning to continue his career as a traveling salesman at the next stop as well, so as soon as he returned to his cabin, he immediately began inscribing new talismans.

Cultivation was not something that he could slack off on!

However, his water palace quickly began to protest after he inscribed around a dozen talismans in succession, and he was forced to stop.

It just so happened that there was another unmissable spectacle on Cloudtop City unfolding as the ship prepared to continue its journey.

Cloudtop City would put on this spectacle whenever a ship stopped nearby, and through this, they were presumably able to earn some money from the ships.

Chen Ping’an emerged from his cabin to see some Cloudtop City cultivators on three ordinary talismanic boats, casting their nets into the sea of clouds to catch a type of flying fish that enjoyed nibbling on clouds.

Of course, these flying fish could be sold for money.

Chen Ping’an leaned over the railing of the ship as he enjoyed the spectacle.

It was just like mortal fishermen casting their nets into tranquil green waters, except it was a white sea of clouds in this case.

After that, the ship departed from the Celestial Water Nation and arrived in the territory of its northern neighbor, the Northern Pavilion Nation. Along the way, they passed by a wish reciprocation mountain, which enjoyed the patronage of plenty of worshippers, but had no Daoist temple or Buddhist monastery.

Many people came to the mountain to make wishes or thanks the forces above for granting their wishes, and there were plenty of worshippers who had made very long journeys to reach the mountain.

Some devout elderly worshippers too frail to make the long journey would send young members of their clan to go in their stead and offer incense to the deities.

There was more than one wish reciprocation mountain on the Northern Complete Reed Continent, but there was no such thing on the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent or the Parasol Leaf Continent.

Chen Ping’an wasn’t so greedy that he would set up his stall in such a sacred place. Instead, he only visited the mountain when the ship stopped there to offer up some incense. He made no wishes, nor was he there to thank the deities for granting any of his wishes. He was there solely to offer up incense and pay his respects.

At the back of the wish reciprocation mountain was a waterfall that flowed upward instead of crashing down, and even after observing it for a long while, he was unable to figure out how this was possible.

Beside the deep pool at the foot of the waterfall was an unsheathing spring.

Whenever a sword or saber wielder drew their blade from their scabbards beside the spring, a jet of water would shoot up into the air, as if in response to the sounds of the weapons being drawn.

Of course, one could also make the spring water rise simply by yelling, but that was nowhere near as poetic, and the spring water raised by a yell was also very scattered and chaotic, unlike the focused stream that would rise from the sound of a drawn blade.

As Chen Ping’an was observing the waterfall, there was no shortage of people yelling at the top of their lungs to trigger a response from the spring.

The sword qi within Sword Immortal began to ripple slightly in a competitive fashion.

“Can you not be so immature?” Chen Ping’an asked through his mind’s lake. “You’re a celestial weapon, are you really going to compete with people in yelling contests?”

Only then did Sword Immortal settle down, most likely because Chen Ping’an had flattered it by referring to it as a celestial weapon when, strictly speaking, it was only a pseudo-celestial weapon.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but feel a little concerned. Could it be that he was actually the one that had brought about the rampant problem of excessive flattery on Downtrodden Mountain?

Surely he couldn’t compare with the likes of Pei Qian and Zhu Lian in this regard! Even someone like Du Yu of the Ghost Axe Palace had him beat!

After offering up some incense and witnessing the reverse waterfall and the unsheathing spring, Chen Ping’an returned to the ship, and on the way back, he was still mulling over something in a hesitant manner.

He was considering leaving the ship mid-journey to go on his first-ever treasure-hunting escapade.

Earlier, he had overheard a conversation between a group of cultivators about the newly discovered immortal abode in the Northern Pavilion Nation. However, those cultivators had decided that it wasn’t worth going to try their luck as many powerful forces in the Celestial Water Nation alone, including Cloudtop City and Rainbow Sparrow Residence, had to have already made a move, and that wasn’t even to mention the multitude of formidable vagrant cultivators that would be drawn in like moths to a flame.

The group of cultivators discussing this matter consisted entirely of official immortals, and they made it no secret that these ruthless vagrant cultivators were the bane of their existence. They were willing to put their lives on the line for treasures, and anyone who found themselves in a conflict against these desperate vagrant cultivators would often end up dead or wounded.

Furthermore, this so-called fated opportunity was almost open to the public, so it could hardly be considered a fated opportunity at all.

Chen Ping’an did some calculations. The ships traveling to the Dragon Palace Small World took a set route, and there was roughly one service per month, all of which would pass through the Peach Blossom Ferry Station of the Rainbow Sparrow Residence and the River Guardian Ferry Station of the Northern Pavilion Nation. Hence, if he were to leave the ship, then his itinerary would be set back by about a month.

In the end, Chen Ping’an still decided to disembark from the ship at the River Guardian Ferry Station.

He was going to treat this trip like an adventure similar to the one that the scholar from the Peony Prefecture with the alias of Lu Dun had embarked on.

It was a simple trip, but in a very rare turn of events, Chen Ping’an was feeling rather anxious because he had grown accustomed to looking inward and not seeking things from the outside world.

As for how he was supposed to get to the nameless mountain, that was not going to be a difficult task because there would be other cultivators that he could follow.

He plastered a Ghost Axe Palace Stele Carrying Talisman to his own body. At this point, he had already mostly recovered from his injuries. He was still not back in peak physical condition yet, but he could withstand three more punches from Gu You and survive.

Concealed by the Stele Carrying Talisman, Chen Ping’an was able to move in a wraith-like fashion, and if Zhu Lian and Pei Qian had been present to witness this, they would’ve surely praised him in earnest for his exceptional stealth.

That night, Chen Ping’an sat on a tall branch, resting with his eyes closed.

All of a sudden, his eyes sprang open as he received a flying sword letter from Liu Jinglong.

Once again, the letter was very concise, consisting of only two sentences: “Gu You and Ji Yue are both dead. Gu You inscribed an ancient Sword Locking Talisman over his own heart to seal away Ji Yue’s bonded flying sword for a split second, during which he took Ji Yue’s life at the cost of his own.”

Chen Ping’an fed an immortal coin to the sword case, and the flying sword instantly departed.

Chen Ping’an interlaced his fingers behind the back of his head as he watched the flying sword race away into the distance.

This was most likely the final letter Qi Jinglong would send before he went into seclusion to make his breakthrough.

Chen Ping’an had already anticipated this outcome, so he wasn’t exactly sad, but he did feel a little despondent. He sat on the tree branch in a daze, not uttering a single word nor drinking a single drop of wine.