Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an removed his hands from his sleeve and handed Ning Yao a pot of Bamboo Sea Small World Wine from his wine shop.

As she drank, Ning Yao said, “Grandpa Little Dong is a true prodigy, ascending the city wall as an Abode Tier cultivator and descending the city wall as a Sea Observation Tier cultivator. When he was at the Dragon Gate Tier, he was already able to kill more than a dozen demons at the same cultivation base as well as three demons at the Golden Core Tier, earning him the nickname of Sword Maniac.

“Afterward, Grandpa Little Dong left the Sword Qi Great Wall by himself and ventured through the Savage World to temper his sword intent, having already advanced to the Upper Five Tiers when he eventually returned. He killed countless demons in the subsequent battles, and he was regarded as a young sword cultivator who had the greatest chance of becoming an Ascension Tier sword immortal.”

Dong Guanpu’s collusion with the demon tribe had caused widespread outrage at the Sword Qi Great Wall, and he was ultimately killed by Old Great Sword Immortal Chen Qingdu before the Lord Hidden Official could even act.

Back then, Chen Ping’an had personally witnessed this scene while standing on the city wall.

Ning Yao continued to drink wine as she said, “Not long after Grandpa Little Dong died, some people started to speculate that he was the one who personally organized the assassination attempt on me at Mirage Market all those years back.”

Ning Yao smiled and continued, “I don’t believe this, but I can’t stop other people from running their mouths.”

“Disregarding the truth of the matter, do these speculations make you feel sad?” Chen Ping’an asked.

“There’s nothing to be sad about,” Ning Yao replied with a shake of her head.

“That’s good to hear. Otherwise, for the next while, I wouldn’t have left the Ning Residence apart from going to the city wall to practice sword techniques,” Chen Ping’an said with a nod.

“Something else is going to happen apart from Little Lü Duan facing an assassination attempt?” Ning Yao asked in puzzlement.

“Definitely,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile. “Someone wants to test my mettle, and at the same time, they’re also trying their best to isolate the Ning Residence. At the end of the day, their true purpose is to distract you as much as possible and hinder your ability to advance. They didn’t have an opportunity in the past, and no one dared to openly target the Ning Residence after the incident at Mirage Market, the matter relating to Dong Guanpu, and the old great sword immortal personally unleashing a sword strike. However, my arrival has given them a new avenue to target you.”

“Why don’t you seem annoyed at all about these matters?” Ning Yao asked. “I actually feel annoyed, but I choose to ignore these matters because I understand that feeling annoyed won’t help. In fact, I don’t even think about these matters at all.”

Chen Ping’an reached over to grab the wine pot, and Ning Yao was just about to subconsciously hand it over. However, she quickly shot a glare at him instead.

Having failed to achieve his goal, Chen Ping’an placed his hands inside his opposite sleeves and said, “Just how capable is this outsider Chen Ping’an? This naturally comes down to two attributes: his cultivation base and his heart. Regarding my fist techniques as a pure martial artist, this has already been proven thanks to the help from Ren Yi, Pu Yu, Qi Shou, and Pang Yuanji. As for my heart, there are some things I deem very important and others I consider less important. If our opponents are shrewd and calculating, they’ll test every aspect of my heart.

“For example, the Ning Residence and the Guo Clan will comprehensively grow distant if Guo Zhujiu is successfully assassinated, and this will be the case regardless of how reasonable and righteous Sword Immortal Guo Jia is. The members of the Guo Clan have already had thorns in their hearts for a very long time. Of course, things have naturally taken a different turn given that the assassination attempt on Guo Zhujiu was foiled.

“Regarding how to examine my stance on what I think is less important, the process is actually very simple. If a child from one of those impoverished alleys is killed, then business at Die Zhang’s wine shop will quickly dry up, and I’ll no longer play the role of a teacher either. Even if I go, there’s no doubt that no one will turn up to listen to those fantastical stories anymore. They need to pay a significant price to kill Guo Zhujiu, but to kill an ordinary child from an impoverished alley? Who would care? But if I don’t care, how will the many sword cultivators at the Sword Qi Great Wall view me? And if I care, what level of care counts as caring?”

Ning Yao’s brows were knitted in worry as she listened on.

See? Grandma Bai was clearly incorrect. Chen Ping’an was evidently able to figure everything out.

“What are you worried about?” Chen Ping’an asked with a smile. “I’ve already thought of this possibility, so their chance of succeeding won’t be very big. However, there are some matters where we can only wait for others to act first, even if we’ve already thought of the possibility.”

“For example?” Ning Yao asked.

“For example, announcing to the world that I’m the Scholarly Sage’s disciple and Zuo You’s junior brother. This won’t be too bad, and it will only be like a tickle. After all, sword cultivators at the Sword Qi Great Wall care more about a person’s cultivation base.”

Chen Ping’an paused for a moment before continuing, “And for example, some young sword cultivator without any background of note becoming drunk and bringing up the past matters of the Ning Residence in front of me. Their words most likely won’t be too extreme, lest they appear unreasonable and spark public outrage. At that time, some of the customers at the wine shop might even step forward to help me.

“Thus, they’ll definitely plan their words very carefully, striking a good balance where they can provoke me to the point of lashing out in anger, yet not take things too far that they appear to be causing trouble on purpose. Rather, they’ll be speaking with genuine emotion and righteousness. That being the case, I’ll definitely stand to lose regardless of whether my punch kills them or not. Youthful vigor is fleeting, and a cunning mind isn’t the mark of a sword cultivator.”

Ning Yao thought for a moment before suggesting, “Then we’ll visit Die Zhang’s wine shop less in the future? People won’t go out of their way to block you if you only travel between the city wall and the Ning Residence, right? That would be far too obvious. There are many sword cultivators at the Sword Qi Great Wall, but there aren’t many fools.”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “We still need to go.”

Ning Yao couldn’t wrap her head around this.

“Bookkeepers like to perform calculations on their abacuses, but they also have their own lives to live. They won’t sit behind the counter all day and all night to calculate profits and losses. Just who am I? Just how many years have I lived with nothing to my name? Will I still be afraid of these matters?”

Chen Ping’an stood up and gazed at the training ground as he continued slowly, “You’ve listened to their nonsensical bullshit for so many years, so I want to listen with my own ears. So be it if you weren’t willing to acknowledge them before, but now that I’m by your side, I’ll directly launch a punch if anyone dares to run over with ill intentions. Otherwise, should I treat them to some wine instead?”

Upon saying this, Chen Ping’an smiled and remarked, “It will most definitely just be a casual punch, as their cultivation base won’t be very high. They’ll definitely be even weaker than Ren Yi. Otherwise, no one will feel sympathy for them if their cultivation base is too high.”

“Then, when should we visit the wine shop?” Ning Yao asked.

This was her temperament.

Chen Ping’an wasn’t surprised at all.

Disregarding his feelings for her, Ning Yao’s temperament and manner of doing things at the small town all those years ago had actually had a huge effect on Chen Ping’an.

Ning Yao’s remark that the Great Dao shouldn’t be so small was one aspect, and this had caused Chen Ping’an to never truly crane his head to look up at those immortals in the mountains after he left the Jewel Small World and came into contact with cultivation.

At the same time, Ning Yao’s straightforward and decisive manner of doing things also left a deep impression on Chen Ping’an, especially her attitude of accepting the reality of the situation and focusing on how to respond.

It was thanks to this clarity in his mind that Chen Ping’an could truly become fearless in the face of the many unexpected troubles. He would simply deal with whatever came his way.

Chen Ping’an turned around and replied with a smile, “We’ll visit after I recover from my wounds. In the meantime, we can give them some time to plan and prepare. Truth be told, I often feel anxious for my enemies, and I almost feel the urge to teach them what to do to maximize their benefits and repulse others to the greatest degree.”

Ning Yao remained silent.

Chen Ping’an sat down beside her and said in a soft voice, “Don’t feel like I’m unfamiliar. I’ve always been like this, but as I told you before, there’s only one matter that I never overthink. I’m not saying this to please you, and it’s simply the sincere truth.”

“Things wouldn’t have been so troublesome for you if you didn’t like me and if you didn’t come here, and you would have been able to enjoy a better life. In fact, you could have even waited until you became a sword immortal in the future to come here to look for me. I would have still waited for you all the same,” Ning Yao replied in a soft voice.

Grandma Bai was right. She had to be herself, and she also had to trust Chen Ping’an. She needed to voice the feelings accumulated in her heart to him, not caring about whether they were reasonable or not. In any case, he was a most reasonable person, so she didn’t need to worry about the two of them running out of things to talk about.

Chen Ping’an didn’t respond to this, and he instead retrieved the small Dragon Slaying Platform that Ning Yao had given him when they had parted ways at Stalactite Mountain back then, the one inscribed with the characters “Ning Yao” and “Innocent” on the two sides.

Chen Ping’an looked down at the characters “Ning Yao,” gently tapping them with his fingers as he opened his eyes wide and scolded, “Who are you? How are you so daring and capable? You’re making me feel so sad and heartbroken. If you continue to act so insensibly, then I’ll pretend to ignore you in the future…”

Ning Yao turned to her side and rested her arms and head on the railing, with her eyelashes quivering slightly as she smiled widely.

The radiant moonlight accentuated her slender eyebrows.

————

On this day, the second shopkeeper, who had already been absent for a long time, finally appeared at the wine shop to drink. He didn’t fight for a seat with the other customers, and he instead squatted to the side and accompanied some familiar sword cultivators. He held a wine bowl in one hand, and a pair of chopsticks in his other, and on the ground in front of him was a small plate of pickled vegetables from the Yan Clan’s shop. There was nothing embarrassing about this, as everyone was doing the same thing.

According to the second shopkeeper, sword immortals served as pillars between heaven and earth, so what did it matter that some dishes were placed on the ground? This was a sign of the sword cultivators being down-to-earth and approachable, and the sword immortals not getting hung up on small details.

Would this be possible at the large restaurants with extremely expensive wine? Perhaps the waiters wouldn’t stop someone from placing dishes on the ground, and maybe the nearby customers wouldn’t say anything either. However, they would definitely roll their eyes at the culprit, no? But what about here? Could such an upsetting reaction take place at this wine shop? Most definitely not.

The sword cultivators who came here to buy wine and drink wine, especially those alcoholics with few immortal coins in their pockets, all found this to be extremely reasonable.

Today, no sword immortal had graced the wine shop yet, and Chen Ping’an was smiling and sipping wine as he casually chatted with the familiar sword cultivators around him.

An unfamiliar young man suddenly stood up, inebriated and holding a wine bowl as he staggered over to Chen Ping’an’s location. He burped and asked with clouded eyes, “Are you Chen Ping’an, the Ning Residence’s son-in-law?”

Chen Ping’an smiled and nodded in response.

The young man was just about to say something, but Chen Ping’an raised his hand and lightly tapped his chopsticks together. Seeing this, Die Zhang ran inside the shop with a stern expression and retrieved a piece of paper.

The young man paid no heed to this, and he continued, “Are you worthy of Ning Yao? I don’t think so. You’re unworthy of Ning Yao even if you managed to defeat Pang Yuanji and the others. Fortunately for you, however, you are indeed worthy of the Ning Residence. Do you know why?”

Chen Ping’an ate some picked vegetables before raising his wine pot and pointing behind himself.

Die Zhang unfurled the piece of paper, revealing the words: Those who mention the historical matters of the Ning Residence to me today can drink punishment wine free of charge.

There were dozens of customers at the wine shop, and they all became alert and guarded at this moment, with some of them no longer drinking and eating. Of course, there were also those who reacted more slowly and were still drinking and eating pickled vegetables.

The young man couldn’t care less about this, and he took a large swig of wine. A decent amount of wine spilled from the white bowl, and his eyes were bloodshot as he exclaimed in rage, “The Sword Qi Great Wall was almost destroyed, but the Lord Hidden Official stepped forward to participate in the first life-and-death battle against the demon tribe. Her opponent immediately surrendered without even entering the battlefield, and following that, we won many life-and-death battles in succession. In the end, we were only one battle away from rendering those despicable great demons from the Savage World helpless — just a single battle away!

“Yet, just how helpful was that immortal couple from the Ning Residence? Those two sword immortals were truly gifting those despicable great demons whatever they needed… The Savage World is shameless, and they would have launched an assault on the Sword Qi Great Wall even if they lost the life-and-death battles. However, the Sword Qi Great Wall understands shame and honor!

“If we hadn’t won the final battle, would you, Chen Ping’an, have been able to come to the Sword Qi Great Wall? Would you have been able to act all high and mighty here? You’re quite the impressive one, aren’t you? You’re the Scholarly Sage’s disciple and Zuo You’s junior brother, correct? Do you know why Stalactite Mountain’s Sword Reverence Pagoda specifically didn’t hang up the portraits of the Ning Residence’s two sword immortals a few years ago? You’re the Ning Residence’s son-in-law and a top-notch prodigy, so why don’t you tell me, hmm?”

Chen Ping’an took a sip of wine and lightly put down his chopsticks.

Die Zhang tossed away the piece of paper and retrieved another piece from her sleeve, furiously unfurling it to reveal the words: Those who mention Ning Yao’s parents can eat my fist. Begging for mercy is useless.

The young man shot a sideways glance at the piece of paper and burst into laughter, remarking, “As expected of a scholar from the Scholarly Sage’s lineage. Such impressive knowledge — you were even able to guess this. What are you going to do? Kill me with a single punch?”

He raised his arm and furiously threw the wine bowl to the ground, shattering it into smithereens as he spat, “It’s revolting to drink wine from the Ning Residence!”

Chen Ping’an slowly stood up, still holding the wine bowl that was more than half full.

The young man stuck his neck out and pointed at his head, saying in provocation, “Come on, I’m waiting for your fist. You can punch me here if you’re so capable.”

He sneered and continued, “You’ve coincidentally come to the Sword Qi Great Wall during a break in battle both times, so perhaps this was all planned by the disciple of the Scholarly Sage rather than a coincidence? In any case, that’s a reflection of your ability, as was your feat of winning those four battles. So, you punching me, a Sea Observation Tier sword cultivator, to death will also be a reflection of your ability, no?

“You often go to the city wall to practice fist techniques and put on a show, and it’s not that you don’t want to kill some demons, but rather that they don’t dare to attack the Sword Qi Great Wall after seeing you, right? If you ask me, I’d say that your ability is almost greater than all of the sword immortals combined. What do you say, Chen Ping’an?!”

Chen Ping’an glanced at the shattered wine bowl on the ground.

The young sword cultivator glared at him with wide eyes and huffed, “You want wine money? I have wine money! I’ve been to the city wall once and to the south once, and even though I didn’t earn much money, I still earned enough to purchase a few bowls of your crappy wine!”

He was just about to retrieve some immortal coins from his sleeve when Chen Ping’an suddenly said, “You don’t need to pay for this bowl of wine.”

The Sea Observation Tier sword cultivator roared with laughter, certain that Chen Ping’an wouldn’t dare to punch him. He was just about to mock him further.

At this instant, however, a fist slammed into the young sword cultivator’s head and sent him spinning through the air, with his head smashing into the ground and his legs kicking up. He died on the spot, collapsing limply to the ground. Not only that, but his soul was shattered as well, leaving him as dead as could be.

Holding a wine bowl in his right hand and pointing at the corpse with his left hand, Chen Ping’an smiled faintly and said, “The demon tribe now owes me money for a bowl of wine thanks to you, and the Savage World will need to repay this the next time a battle breaks out in the south!”

After saying this, Chen Ping’an raised the wine bowl in his hand and looked around, saying with loud laughter, “A few ounces of wine in small cups and large bowls, washing away the ugly filth of the world! Sword immortals of the future, who’s willing to share a drink with me before we travel south beyond the city wall?!”

Among the customers in the wine shop and the sword cultivators squatting on the ground, a few people stood up, after which everyone stood up.

They topped up their wine cups and wine bowls.

Chen Ping’an gazed into the distance and announced loudly, “Those at the Sword Qi Great Wall! Those sword immortals who yearn to kill more enemies! You’re all invited to share a drink with me!”

On this day, an especially large number of sword cultivators and sword immortals at the Sword Qi Great Wall raised their cups and bowls to enjoy a drink.