Unsheathed

“Cultivators at the pinnacle of the mountains are all able to see the flow of martial fortune around the territories of the nine continents?” Chen Ping’an asked in curiosity.

“The flow of martial fortune in the world has always been something that even the Confucian Sect is unable to grasp and control. It wasn’t that the Confucian sages in the past didn’t want to become involved and include martial fortune within the realms of Confucian rules and regulations, but the Etiquette Sage didn’t agree to this, so the proposal eventually went nowhere. This is very interesting. The Etiquette Sage was clearly the person who established the rules and regulations, but it appears as if he’s always been opposing the later generations of Confucian sages and scholars, personally rejecting many proposals that would have been beneficial to the development of the Confucian Sect.”

Li Liu continued to explain these matters, revealing many secrets. “It’s very difficult to detect any traces unless one is a cultivator at the peak stage of the Ascension Tier, who’s just barely able to detect these subtle movements. The seventy-two sages of the Confucian Sect who guard the heavens are able to see this flow of martial fortune the most clearly. In any case, the so-called notion of being the strongest among pure martial artists is only temporary, compared to other martial artists of the same generation and at the same cultivation base across the nine continents. As such, if martial artists like Cao Ci or you, Mr. Chen, stay at a certain cultivation base for too long, no other martial artist at the same cultivation base can dream of becoming the strongest and obtaining the martial fortune.”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and commented, “There still exists a huge gulf between Cao Ci and me.”

Li Liu smiled and said, “I’m simply telling the truth. If we look even further at the ninth tier and the tenth tier, the gulf between these two cultivation bases is like the gulf between heaven and earth. In any case, the tenth tier isn’t a genuine End Tier or whatnot, and the gap between each of the three sub-tiers is also very large.

“The Great Li Empire’s Song Changjing was inferior to my father all the way up to the ninth tier, but it’s difficult to say who’s stronger between them now. Song Changjing enjoys innately abundant Qi, so if they’re both at the Thriving Qi Tier of the tenth tier, then my father’s personality will hold him back, causing him to suffer a disadvantage if they fight. This is the reason my father left home and traveled to the Northern Complete Reed Continent. Song Changjing is still at the Thriving Qi Tier now, while my father has already reached the Simplification Tier. If the two of them truly fight to the death, then Song Changjing will still end up the loser.

“However, if both of them reach the Divinity Tier, which is the closest to the so-called End Tier, then there’s a bigger chance that my father will lose. Of course, if my father manages to advance to the fabled eleventh tier of martial arts first, then Song Changjing will face near-certain death if he dares to challenge my father. Of course, the reverse is also true.”

“Would both of them have lost the chance to advance if Uncle Li had remained in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent?” Chen Ping’an asked in a quiet voice.

Li Liu nodded and replied, “Nothing is absolute, but that would have most likely been the case.”

She then smiled and asked in response, “Mr. Chen, are you not curious about the origin of these secrets? Did my father reveal them to me, or am I knowledgeable about them myself?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “There’s no need to understand this. I trust that both you and Uncle Li are able to properly deal with your family matters and external matters.”

“If you feel like the training sessions and beatings are still insufficient, and if you desire a heartier session of tempering and throwing punches, then I do indeed have a suitable candidate over here. I can call them over straight away. However, they like to decide life and death whenever they fight.” Li Liu suddenly said.

“It’s already more than enough,” Chen Ping’an replied without hesitation. “Any additional training can wait until I visit the Northern Complete Reed Continent again in the future.”

Chen Ping’an surmised that he might not even be able to withstand the final training session with Li Er.

Moreover, he was already near the end of his trip along the Plenty River, so once he advanced to the seventh tier of martial arts, that would be the time for him to immediately turn around and return to the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. There was still a huge pile of things for him to deal with at Downtrodden Mountain, and after that, he naturally needed to travel south to Old Dragon City again, where he would board an intercontinental ship to Stalactite Mountain.

“In fact, Mr. Chen, you are familiar with that person as well. He was also at Malicious Ghost Valley’s Treasure Mirror Mountain back then,” Li Liu revealed.

A look of realization spread across Chen Ping’an’s face.

It was the strange person whom Chen Ping’an hadn’t been able to see through, but had made him feel an extreme sense of danger.

He hadn’t felt this way even when it came to the prodigious Yang Ningxing from the Esteemed Mystery Department. More accurately, the feeling hadn’t been as strong.

“Have you ever considered this question before? When your cultivation bases are close, what will the opponents standing in front of you feel?” Li Liu asked.

Chen Ping’an faltered for a moment before shaking his head and replying, “I’ve never thought about this before.”

He had engaged in far too many battles and killed far too many enemies over the past few years of his travels.

After saying this, the first person who came to Chen Ping’an’s mind was Apricot Blossom Alley’s Ma Kuxuan, someone whom he hadn’t seen for a very long time. He was a cultivation prodigy who had suddenly appeared in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent and become a direct disciple of True Martial Mountain, an ancestral force of the Militarian Sect. Ma Kuxuan had rapidly advanced without any barriers, and the two of them hadn’t encountered each other again following their battle on the street of the Colorful Garment Nation.

Chen Ping’an had heard that Ma Kuxuan was doing extremely well, and those in the mountains of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent held him up as the most talented cultivator after Li Tuanjing and Wei Jin. According to the latest immortal newspapers, he had personally killed an old general of the Sea Tide Cavalry and comprehensively exacted revenge for his family.

Li Liu smiled faintly and said, “If it were me, and my cultivation base was similar to yours, Mr. Chen, then I definitely wouldn’t look for a fight.”

“Miss Li, you are flattering me,” Chen Ping’an said with a shake of his head.

“It’s not good to be overly modest,” Li Liu said.

“This means I’m still lacking when it comes to feigning weakness,” Chen Ping’an remarked.

Li Liu couldn’t help but chuckle. “Mr. Chen, I beg you to spare your opponents.”

“I truly can’t agree to this request of yours,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile.

Before he knew it, he had already arrived at the peak of Lion Peak with Li Liu. It wasn’t early, but it wasn’t time to go to bed either. He could see many lights glowing in the small town at the foot of the mountain, and there were several slender and dragon-like trails of light that were especially eye-catching. These trails of lights most likely mapped out the streets where the relatively wealthy clans and families were residing. Meanwhile, there were only sparse smatterings of light in the other regions of the small town.

“You have traveled far and wide, so do you know the true origin of the small worlds, the blessed lands, and the mystical realms?” Li Liu asked.

Chen Ping’an nodded and replied, “A friend mentioned this once, saying that beyond just the nine continents of the Majestic World, the three other worlds are also fragments resulting from the collapse of the old heaven and earth. In fact, some mystical realms are even the heads or corpses of the primordial gods, while those… celestial bodies that have crashed into the earth were once the palaces and residences of the primordial deities.”

“Your friend was truly daring enough to say this,” Li Liu commented.

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “He can be regarded as daring, seeing that he was brave enough to travel across a continent with a whole heap of immortal treasures. However, he can also be regarded as cowardly, seeing that he’s a cultivator who doesn’t dare to soar on the wind. He’s afraid of heights.”

“He’s a good friend?” Li Liu asked.

“Yes, one of my good friends,” Chen Ping’an replied with a nod.

The light breeze atop the mountain brought with it the mountain fragrance of the grain rain solar term.

Li Liu fell silent for a moment before casually asking, “Have you read any books recently?”

Chen Ping’an smiled and responded, “Yes, it’s a…”

He paused for a moment before sighing with emotion and continuing, “It’s a strange book containing many short stories about life and death. I obtained it from a great demon who had attained Dao and liked to refine famous mountains.”

Li Liu lost interest in the book upon hearing this. She had witnessed far too many lives and deaths over the years, so these matters definitely couldn’t provide any benefit to her current Great Dao.

To her, Old Man Yang was like a teacher in a private school in her current lifetime, while she was a student who needed to complete an assignment that he had given her. This assignment didn’t pertain to knowledge regarding morality and virtue, nor did it pertain to the essays of sages and nobles. In fact, it didn’t even involve advancing to the Ascension Tier or whatnot. Rather, this assignment pertained to how to conduct herself as a person.

In reality, this was a very awkward and uncomfortable assignment.

Li Liu felt comfortable only at home with her parents and her younger brother, Li Huai. When she left home, she would look at the outside world in exactly the same way she had in her many previous lifetimes.

Chen Ping’an gazed at the lights near the foot of the mountain and said in a soft voice, “I once read the notes of a literati, in which they commented that mortal humans wasted half of their short lives in bed. Cultivators seemingly don’t fare much better, and spending so much time cultivating is essentially the same as sleeping half their lives. Thinking about this carefully, however, there are ultimately some differences between the two. Standing at different positions to observe the same thing might lead to completely different conclusions.

“I also read two books written by literati about ghosts and monsters and their interactions with worldly matters in the past, with one written by a literati who had served in a lofty position and returned home in old age, and the other written by a despondent scholar who had failed to succeed in the imperial examinations and ultimately failed to become an official. I initially didn’t think much about these two books, but I flipped through them again when I was bored and had nothing better to do during my travels. This allowed me to gain some new insights.

“Standing in a lofty position and gazing far, one can gain a more complete understanding of human nature. Standing close and looking at the details, one can gain a more intimate understanding of the human heart.”

After saying this, Chen Ping’an sighed with emotion and remarked, “Perhaps this is the benefit of reading ten thousand scrolls and traveling ten thousand miles.”

He suddenly smiled and continued, “My friend who doesn’t dare to fly on the wind is knowledgeable regarding many topics, so much so that I feel ashamed of myself. I casually asked him a question one time, saying that if there were two blades of grass growing in the small alley in my hometown, one at each end but unable to see each other, even though they were so close, would they feel sad if they possessed sentience? He started to carefully contemplate this question, eventually giving me many bizarre and mystical answers. However, I stopped myself from laughing the entire time. Miss Li, do you know what I wanted to laugh at?”

Li Liu smiled knowingly and replied, “Chickens and dogs constantly roam around Clay Vase Alley, and especially when it comes to the hens and their chicks, they like to peck left and right all day long. How can there be any grass?”

Chen Ping’an nodded earnestly, unable to wipe the smile from his face.

Li Liu suddenly retracted her smile, bowing and saying, “Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Chen.”

Chen Ping’an faltered upon seeing this, not understanding what Li Liu was doing. Wasn’t he just strolling along and chatting casually with her? Perhaps she had somehow managed to comprehend something?

Chen Ping’an’s only thought at this moment was that, sure enough, he wasn’t a cultivation talent. His aptitude was middling, so he needed to cultivate even more earnestly after his fist training with Uncle Li at Lion Peak concluded.

Li Liu bade farewell, surprisingly traveling on the wind and making her way to the fabric shop at the foot of the mountain with the food container in her hands.

Chen Ping’an was extremely puzzled. He returned to the immortal residence and rowed the boat back to the huge mirror, continuing to practice Zhang Shanfeng’s fist stance. He didn’t seek to grow his fist intent, and he simply sought to truly calm his mind.

————

It was night, and Aunt Liu was standing behind the counter of the fabric shop and flipping through the accounts books, sighing again and again as she performed calculations again and again. More than half a month had already passed, and there still wasn’t a lot of income. There weren’t even two or three taels of silver in profit.

This was in stark contrast to the period of time when Chen Ping’an had been helping, bringing the fabric shop two or three taels of silver in profit each day. Comparing oneself to others would truly induce worry. Thankfully, there weren’t too many expenses in this small town.

Aunt Liu became adrift as she gazed at the lamp on the counter, after which she turned around to look at the man who was stupidly standing nearby. “Li Er, what the hell are you standing here like a statue for? Do you think you’re a lamp or something?” she fumed.

Li Er shook his head in response.

He completely understood her.

He had purchased too much wine recently, but the blame couldn’t fall squarely on him. Chen Ping’an had drunk quite a lot of the wine, after all.

Aunt Liu seemingly saw through Li Er’s thoughts, and she scolded, “Spending money and feeling pained is one matter, but entertaining Chen Ping’an is another matter altogether. Stop trying to blame Chen Ping’an, Li Er. If you’re so capable, then spit out what you drank and refund it for some money! I can forgive you if you’re able to do this! You’re aimlessly wandering around all the time, and how many taels of silver are you able to earn in a year by doing some odd jobs here and there?! Is it enough for you to drink wine and eat meat?”

“Chen Ping’an is about to leave soon, so how about I quit drinking for half a year?” Li Er suggested in a gloomy voice.

However, Aunt Liu unexpectedly became even angrier at the mention of Chen Ping’an leaving soon, and she exclaimed, “Our daughter can’t get married, and this is thanks to you holding her back. If you’re so capable, then why don’t you try to become an official? At that time, let’s see if we get so many matchmakers visiting that even the door threshold becomes worn and broken!”

Li Er remained silent.

“If Li Huai gets married in the future, yet our daughter-in-law’s family looks down on us, believe me when I say that I’ll toss you out to sleep in the courtyard in the middle of winter!” Aunt Liu lamented in grief.

Li Er scratched his head.

Aunt Liu was just about to extinguish the oil lamp when she suddenly heard the door creaking open. She immediately ran out from behind the counter and hid next to Li Er, saying in a quivering voice, “Li Liu has gone back to the mountains, so perhaps this is a thief? If they’ve come for money, don’t act rashly on impulse, Li Er. We’ll let the thief take the loose silver in the shop.”

Li Er nodded in response.

Thankfully, the person who appeared in the doorway was their daughter, Li Liu.

Aunt Liu immediately stomped on Li Er’s foot and chided, “Alrighty then. Even if a thief truly came, I most likely couldn’t have relied on you, even if they were as skinny as a monkey! In fact, it’s hard to say who would have been protecting whom at that time…”

She continued to scold Li Er relentlessly.

After extinguishing the oil lamp, the family of three walked to the backyard. Aunt Liu didn’t have the energy to scold her husband and daughter anymore, so she went to her room to go to bed first.

Li Er and Li Liu sat down on a long bench, and the latter grabbed a pot of immortal wine from thin air. Li Er shook his head.

If he truly liked drinking and wanted to drink good wine, what wine couldn’t Li Er afford and get his hands on?

However, Li Liu insisted this time, saying, “Just make an exception this time, Dad.”

Li Er was slightly puzzled, and he accepted the pot of wine but didn’t crack open the clay seal. He chuckled and said in a quiet voice, “I’ll save this to drink together with Li Huai in the future. He’s almost old enough to drink now. At that time, I can say it was bestowed upon us by an esteemed elderly immortal from Lion Peak.”

Li Liu smiled and didn’t say anything.

“Your mother has actually thought about returning to the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent many times,” Li Er revealed. “She has relatives there, after all, and we’ve also been familiar with our neighbors for many generations. On the other hand, we’re ultimately outsiders in this small town. So, I agreed to your mother’s request at the time, but she eventually decided against returning herself, saying that Li Huai is studying at a Confucian academy, after all, so things won’t be too bad even if he is getting picked on. However, things are different for you, especially since you’re a girl. Your mother doesn’t feel at ease about leaving you here alone. She isn’t willing to ask you to leave the mountains either, causing you to lose that immortal fated opportunity that she doesn’t even dare to think about.”

Li Liu nodded and stretched her legs, crossing them as she intertwined her fingers and asked in a soft voice, “Dad, have you ever thought about me eventually needing to adopt my true body one day? At that time, my divinity will far surpass my humanity, and the experiences of this current life will become as small as a speck of sand. Perhaps I won’t forget about you, Mom, and Li Huai, but I definitely won’t regard you with as much importance as I do today. What can we do then? In fact, I might not even feel any sadness at that time. How about you guys?”

Li Er smiled and replied, “Of course, I’ve thought about this before. Your father isn’t truly stupid, after all. What can we do then? What else can we do? We’ll simply regard it as our daughter being incredibly successful, just like… Mhm, just like farmer parents who have worked in the fields all their life suddenly discovering one day that their son has become a champion scholar, while their daughter has become an imperial concubine. However, their son is still their son, and their daughter is still their daughter, no?

“Perhaps there will be fewer and fewer common topics for them to talk about, with the parent staying back to look after the family home and the fields, while their son is far away and needs to concern himself with the country and her people, and the daughter has few opportunities to return home to visit her parents. Even so, the parents will still think about their children, and they’ll still feel content as long as they know their children are doing well.”

Li Liu lowered her head and asked, “It’s just this simple?”

Li Er nodded and replied, “It’s not complicated at all, and it doesn’t need to be as complicated as you think. I didn’t discuss these things with you in the past because I felt like it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to think more, even if you were overthinking things.”

He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “However, I hope that if the day truly comes for you to regain your divinity, you can still treat your mother a bit better, even if that means going against your personality and putting on a facade. Regardless of who you think you truly are, your mother will forever view you as her daughter, someone whom she carried for ten months, gave birth to, and raised. As your father, I genuinely don’t have any other requests as long as you’re able to agree to this.”

“Okay,” Li Liu replied in a gentle voice.

Li Er sighed and remarked, “It’s a shame that Chen Ping’an doesn’t like you, and you don’t like Chen Ping’an either.”

“Dad!” Li Liu exclaimed in dissatisfaction.

“I’m just saying. Why are you getting all worked up?” Li Er said with a grin.

Li Liu smiled, with her beautiful eyes creasing into crescent moons.

“Do you know the other reason why Chen Ping’an chose not to stay here, the one that he wasn’t able to say out loud?” Li Er asked.

“Perhaps he’s worried about something? He’s worried about causing trouble for us?” Li Liu suggested in puzzlement.

Li Er shook his head and revealed, “Our family is reunited, except for Li Huai, but he’s still an outsider here. Chen Ping’an can endure all kinds of pain and hardships, but the only thing he can’t endure is this.”

————

Li Liu returned home that day.

Chen Ping’an smiled and bade farewell.

A young man in azure walked along the street by himself in a foreign town, turning around to look at the fabric shop and not retracting his gaze for a very long time.