Unsheathed

The young man and young woman had once come across each other in one of their hometowns.

It was the same again this time, with the only difference being that they had come across each other in He Xiaoliang’s hometown instead of Chen Ping’an’s hometown. After all, the Northern Complete Reed Continent could be considered as half a hometown for the founding sect leader of the Refreshing Sect.

For mortals outside the mountains, recognizing one’s heritage and ancestors was of utmost importance. To cultivators in the mountains who were pure and free from desire, this matter was even more important.

He Xiaoliang turned her head and said to the direct disciple of a guest elder standing behind her, “You can return to the sect first, Li Zhou.”

Li Zhou felt slightly dejected, but he immediately pushed aside his complicated thoughts and obediently heeded Sect Leader He’s instructions.

“Let’s walk around?” He Xiaoliang suggested with a smile.

Chen Ping’an nodded and replied, “It is time for a proper chat. Being hesitant and indecisive isn’t right for a sect leader.”

He Xiaoliang turned around and entered a small alley, avoiding the middle and walking to one side, whether deliberately or not. Chen Ping’an walked on the other side of the small alley.

“Back at Malicious Ghost Valley, how did you guess that Gao Cheng and I were secretly plotting against you?” He Xiaoliang asked.

“It was due to all kinds of subtle coincidences of fate,” Chen Ping’an replied. “And by conservatively overestimating Sect Leader He’s Dao power and scheming abilities, I decided to make haste and run away.”

“I didn’t have any problem when cultivating at my sect, yet I faced the prospect of almost dropping down a tier. Say, how many sect leaders who have just advanced to the Unpolished Jade Tier in the Majestic World will face such misfortune?” He Xiaoliang remarked.

Chen Ping’an recalled what he had seen when purchasing mandarins back then, and he smiled and said, “If apologizing can result in us minding our own businesses and keeping out of each other’s ways, then I apologize to Sect Leader He.”

He Xiaoliang didn’t offer a response to this, instead changing the direction of the conversation and commenting, “You most likely wouldn’t have been able to say this in the past.”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “For the sake of living on, I could have even kowtowed and begged for mercy in the past.”

“For example, you would have begged that mountain-moving ape not to severely wound Liu Xianyang with a single punch if you were able to?” He Xiaoliang asked.

“Of course,” Chen Ping’an replied with a nod. “If that old beast felt like my kowtowing wasn’t sincere enough, then I would have strived to kowtow until my forehead split and bled like a blooming flower.”

“And after kowtowing?” He Xiaoliang asked.

Chen Ping’an didn’t conceal anything, replying, “What else could I do? I would have continued to live my mundane life. Of course, it would be a different story if I were given the opportunity to settle the grudge in the future. Wine in the mountain only becomes more fragrant as it ages.”

“What about now?” He Xiaoliang asked.

Chen Ping’an lightly tossed the mandarin in his hand up and down as he walked, replying slowly, “My abilities are lacking, so I’ll drink wine to cope. What else can I do? Blame heaven and earth and screech that the heavens are blind? Will the heavens acknowledge me if I do that?”

He Xiaoliang was just about to ask another question.

If this were the case in the past, then what about now?

Her master, Lu Chen, had once taken her along a complicated river of time, allowing her to see a multitude of different future Chen Ping’ans.

However, the Chen Ping’an walking beside her didn’t align with any of the multitude of Chen Ping’ans.

“There’s no need to reminisce about the past.”

Chen Ping’an caught the mandarin, looking at He Xiaoliang and asking with a smile, “Give me a firm answer, Sect Leader He. Can we each walk our own path without interfering with each other in the future?”

He Xiaoliang pointed at the sky and replied with a faint smile, “Why don’t you ask my master? As his direct disciple, I naturally don’t dare to disobey my master’s instructions.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and mused, “Then I need to become even more powerful. I wonder how much wine I’ll need to drink to cope in the meantime.”

This conversation was becoming very difficult due to He Xiaoliang’s lack of sincerity.

Meanwhile, He Xiaoliang didn’t care about Chen Ping’an’s thoughts at all, and she simply cared about whether or not his actions in the future would cause immense trouble for her pursuit of the Great Dao.

Casting her mind back to the past, the gulf between their statuses had been immense when she had seen that young boy wearing straw sandals and carrying a large basket of snake gall pebbles on his back. Not only that, but the young boy’s spirit and confidence had been in the mud when he had gazed up at the group of immortals standing on the stone cliff.

Unexpectedly, however, his spirit and confidence had grown considerably over the past few years, while the gulf between their cultivation bases still remained as large as before.

“Chen Ping’an, do you understand that with your personality, each time you advance slightly and display increasing caution and stability, your adversaries will only develop a stronger will to kill you when given the chance?” He Xiaoliang said in a soft voice.

“And? Is that also my fault?” Chen Ping’an chuckled and continued, “If Sect Leader He thinks so, then I need to voice my honest thoughts. Do you think my adversaries will refrain from extending a finger to casually squish me to death as long as I don’t advance? I’d say quite a lot of people are itching to do so. However, they either think the price of doing so is too high or their cultivation progress is abysmal, preventing them from doing so. Upon thinking of this, my good mood had become even greater after encountering Sect Leader He in this foreign land.”

“You feel like the others have done wrong first, but have you considered the possibility that you haven’t done anything wrong, but you are the mistake to begin with?” He Xiaoliang asked in a seemingly casual manner.

Chen Ping’an remained calm and composed as he replied, “There’s no need to trouble Sect Leader He with posing these mortal and basic questions. Over the many years, it wasn’t just the children around Clay Vase Alley who were the same age as me saying this for fun, but there were also some bastards who purposely repeated this to repulse me. Many elderly neighbors and kind-hearted people were also occasionally posing the same question with their eyes when they looked at me.”

He Xiaoliang fell silent for a long time.

At the end of the small alley, He Xiaoliang stopped and said, “You already learned the truth a long time ago.”

“Sect Leader He, I’m not sure I understand what you’re talking about,” Chen Ping’an responded.

“It’s enough as long as your heart understands,” He Xiaoliang said with a smile.

“Enough?” Chen Ping’an retorted.

“It’s indeed not quite enough,” He Xiaoliang concurred with a faint smile.

As if mysteriously coming to terms with a certain knot in her heart, He Xiaoliang turned around to face Chen Ping’an as she continued, “I’ll wait for you at the pinnacle of the Majestic World’s mountains. Otherwise, you and I can each walk our own paths without interfering with each other.”

This encounter at the end of the Plenty River was both a coincidence and a certainty.

He Xiaoliang could often achieve what she wanted with a single thought.

People could only shut up and deal with it if they were dissatisfied with her incredible fortune.

After receiving an answer that surpassed his expectations, Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “Then I won’t be seeing Sect Leader He off.”

“I didn’t say I would leave straight away,” He Xiaoliang chuckled. “As a sect leader who needs to worry about everything, it’s very rare for me to take a trip outside. That being the case, shouldn’t I cherish this opportunity of coming across someone whom I can’t get off my mind?”

Chen Ping’an uttered two names in response. “Xu Xuan, Li Zhou.”

He Xiaoliang smiled beautifully and explained, “One is able to control his actions, and one is able to control his mouth. They won’t disturb you.”

Chen Ping’an remained silent.

“What’s this? Is this still my fault?” He Xiaoliang asked in mock astonishment.

Chen Ping’an almost felt the urge to kill her with a single punch.

“If you’re not capable enough, then just drink wine to cope,” He Xiaoliang suggested in an “understanding” manner. “Do you have any good wine? I have some of the best immortal wine from the Northern Complete Reed Continent. I can give all of this wine to you.”

Chen Ping’an smiled with squinted eyes and replied, “It would be a shame to kill Sect Leader He with a single punch. Please don’t get angry at my nonsensical drivel, Sect Leader He.”

He would throw two punches even if he could kill her with a single punch.

He Xiaoliang also smiled with squinted eyes, gently covering her mouth with a hand as she shook her head and replied, “I won’t get angry. This is a long-awaited display of honesty and sincerity between us. This is a good thing.”

Chen Ping’an walked out of the small alley along with He Xiaoliang, who had reactivated her concealment technique. There was a noticeable gap between them, so it couldn’t be said that they were walking side by side.

Chen Ping’an looked straight ahead, gazing at the bustling street as he asked, “When are you leaving?”

“Probably later than you’re thinking,” He Xiaoliang replied.

“Have you always been this kind of person, He Xiaoliang?” Chen Ping’an asked.

“Aren’t you the same?” He Xiaoliang replied with a smile. “It’s just that I understood myself from the beginning, while you’ve only understood yourself later. In this sense, things have been more difficult for you.”

The two of them exited the city and walked toward the western seashore along the bank of the Plenty River.

Chen Ping’an stepped onto a tall platform on the seashore and suddenly said, “He Xiaoliang, the Dao that you’re painstakingly pursuing is analogous to Ning Yao’s position in my heart. Does this comparison make sense to you?”

He Xiaoliang nodded and replied, “Of course. This isn’t difficult to understand. The problem is, I don’t want to accept this outcome.”

Chen Ping’an looked toward the distance and didn’t say anything else.

He Xiaoliang hesitated for a moment before squatting down beside him and asking, “The academy was along your route before, so why didn’t you head over to visit?”

In reality, she had only just left the academy not long ago.

Chen Ping’an pursed his lips, lightly clenching his hands into fists and placing them on his knees. His sleeves naturally hung low as he replied, “Would you visit the White Jade Capital and the main Daoist temples of the three other branches if Lu Chen were killed because of you?”

He Xiaoliang fell silent for a long time before slowly replying, “Chen Ping’an, only today have I come to feel like becoming Dao partners with you isn’t a barrier for me. Rather, this is already the best marital fate in the world.”

Chen Ping’an put down his bamboo bookcase and retrieved his Sword Nurturing Gourd, sitting down cross-legged and slowly drinking wine as he remarked out of nowhere, “The Great Dao shouldn’t be so small.”

He Xiaoliang changed her mind for some reason, standing up and deciding to leave this place earlier than initially planned. Before leaving, she turned to Chen Ping’an, who was leaning against his bamboo bookcase, and said, “Romance between men and women is ultimately a minor matter.”

“Regarding this, even the Dao Ancestor’s words don’t count, to say nothing of your master, Lu Chen,” Chen Ping’an replied in a calm voice.

He Xiaoliang chuckled in speechlessness before flying away on the wind.