Unsheathed

”Why must you live for the sake of other people?” the sword spirit asked with a sigh.

When it came to practicing martial arts and training fist techniques, Cui Cheng’s influence on Chen Ping’an was unfathomably big.

Half of his remark just then clearly resonated with the deceased Cui Cheng. It was a solemn promise, one that linked the two of them despite the barrier of life and death.

Chen Ping’an shook his head and explained, ”This isn’t the case. I’ve always been living for myself, but I’ll inevitably develop relationships and find things I care about as I walk along this path. Those whom I respect should live eternally in my heart, and even if the world forgets them, they’ll still live on in my memory. If the opportunity arises, I’ll even strive to reawaken the world’s memory of these people.”

The sword spirit fell deep into thought, recalling some matters from long, long ago.

After walking for a while, Chen Ping’an turned around and retraced his steps.

The sword spirit also turned around and retraced her steps.

This was the path of no wrong that Chen Ping’an pursued, preventing the sword spirit from traveling too broadly along the river of time and potentially triggering unexpected consequences.

There were far too many surprises and accidents in the world, with people powerless to stop them. They could only accept their fates.

But at the very least, Chen Ping’an would avoid causing too many surprises and accidents due to his own carelessness.

Mr. Qi knew Chen Ping’an the best, yet he had already passed away because of Chen Ping’an.

The sword spirit and Chen Ping’an sat on the parapet, just like they had sat on the golden arch bridge in the past.

”Are you about to leave?” Chen Ping’an asked.

”I can stay, but the old scholar who’s waiting painfully at Stalactite Mountain might have to visit the Confucian temple to apologize,” the sword spirit replied.

”A brief parting is no issue, but please don’t leave without ever returning again. I might be able to stand this, but I’ll inevitably feel very distressed. Yet, I won’t be able to say anything, and I can only suffer distress in silence,” Chen Ping’an said.

”Master, you and I shall share life and death for eternity,” the sword spirit said with a smile.

Chen Ping’an turned around and extended a palm.

The sword spirit raised her hand, not high-fiving Chen Ping’an, but instead holding his hand and giving it a gentle shake. ”This is the second promise between us.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and nodded. ”I’ll definitely honor my promises.”

The sword spirit retracted her hand and lightly tapped her knees, gazing at the barren lands of the Savage World as she said with a cold chuckle, ”There appear to be a few undying old friends still.”

”Then I’ll take extra caution,” Chen Ping’an said.

”If I appear, then these sneaky primordial beings won’t dare to kill you. At most, they’ll only dare to shatter your bridge of immortality again, forcing you to step onto an ancient path with me,” the sword spirit said.

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, ”Regardless of what I’ll think in the future and whether I’ll change my mind or not, I most definitely won’t leave at this moment.”

”Okay, okay,” the sword spirit said with a smile.

”Do you know what’s most impressive about me?” Chen Ping’an suddenly asked, smiling.

The sword spirit thought about this for a moment before replying, ”You dare to make trade-offs.”

For example, Chen Ping’an had made a trade-off between her and Ning Yao when he had unleashed a sword strike toward Tassel Mountain in the old scholar’s picture scroll.

If he had chosen incorrectly, then things would have progressed in a drastically different direction.

A person who acted obsequiously toward so-called power and influence didn’t deserve to unleash a sword strike toward the heavens in her stead.

Ten thousand years had passed, and how many people in the human world had buckled at the knees and gone weak in the back? Countless. These people truly needed to take a look at how their ancestors had struggled through difficult times and climbed to greater heights with their swords, courting death for the sake of creating a better world for future generations.

Following the heroic death of this generation, however, the radiance of humanity — which was vastly different from that of divinity — also started to change. More accurately, it was covered.

The gods and deities had crafted these ants in the past, and they were regarded as ants because of their innate shortcomings, which pertained to more than just their short lifespan. It was precisely because of these shortcomings that the lofty gods in the heavens had viewed the humans as measly ants who could never rebel, only being able to offer endless amounts of incense to them for all eternity. Their lives were completely worthless.

At that time, some of the lofty gods peering down at the world had noticed the transformations in the humans. However, they were reaping unimaginable benefits through forming and tempering their godly bodies using incense offerings from the human world, something that was linked to the foundation of their longevity, so some of the gods turned a blind eye to changes in the human world.

They wanted to maintain the status quo and continue to draw on the bottomless source of power. Meanwhile, some of the gods thought nothing of this transformation, convinced that they could crush these measly ants with ease if they wanted to.

Reality had ultimately proven otherwise, propelled by many so-called coincidental inevitabilities. For example, the conflict between fire and water.

Most unexpected of all was the fact that her previous master, as well as a few deities, had been willing to regard a small handful of people as genuinely like-minded individuals.

That was the catalyst behind the growth of sword techniques and a myriad of other techniques in the human world.

Chen Ping’an shook his head and said in a soft voice, ”My heart is free.”

He then smiled and continued, ”People didn’t say this in the past because they had never even considered it before.”

She then repeated the four words spoken by Chen Ping’an.

”My heart is free,” she murmured.

————

The old great sword immortal tossed Chen Ping’an back inside the city. Nalan Yexing was already waiting at the entrance, and the two of them entered the Ning Residence together, with Nalan Yexing asking in a quiet voice, ”Did the old great sword immortal drag you over?”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response, not saying anything else.

Nalan Yexing hadn’t been especially worried to begin with, and he felt even more at ease after learning that it was indeed the old great sword immortal’s doing.

However, Chen Ping’an used his mind’s lake to say, ”Grandpa Nalan, can you please pass on a message to Grandma Bai? I have some matters to discuss with her at the Minute Small World.”

”A meeting with Young Mistress?” Nalan Yexing asked with a serious expression.

”Yes, together,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile.

The four of them convened at the training ground.

Chen Ping’an roughly explained the situation regarding the sword spirit, only giving a general overview of the current situation and not touching upon the more fundamental matters.

Nalan Yexing and Bai Lianshuang exchanged glances with each other as if they were listening to something unfathomable.

A true spirit nurtured and born from an immortal sword?

One of the four legendary immortal swords that had possessed the greatest destructive power ten thousand years ago? A true spirit that could be regarded as an old friend of Old Great Sword Immortal Chen Qingdu?

Ning Yao fared okay, with her expression remaining calm and unfazed.

A ripple appeared at the training ground, from which a tall woman in white stepped out and stood beside Chen Ping’an. She looked around before eventually settling her gaze on Ning Yao.

Ning Yao raised an eyebrow.

”Rest assured, I’m going to leave very soon,” the sword spirit said with a smile.

”And so what if you don’t leave?” Ning Yao asked.

The sword spirit looked at Ning Yao’s glabella and remarked with a faint smile, ”That’s fairly interesting. You’re worthy of my master.”

Chen Ping’an knew that things were about to go south, and sure enough, Ning Yao chuckled coldly and said, ”And would I be unworthy if I didn’t possess that? Does your opinion matter regarding whether I’m worthy or not?”

Beads of sweat formed on Nalan Yexing’s forehead. Bai Lianshuang was also tense with anxiety.

The sword spirit smiled and replied, ”No, it doesn’t matter at all. Happy?”

Ning Yao replied with a cold chuckle.

Chen Ping’an looked down and kept quiet, unable to use any of his abilities at this moment. Even speaking a single word would be wrong.

”Alright, I’m going to leave now,” the sword spirit said with a yawn.

Her figure, which was already shimmering and unstable to begin with, gradually faded away, eventually breaking through the sky of the Sword Qi Great Wall under Chen Qingdu’s escort. After arriving at the Majestic World, the old scholar helped to conceal her aura as they traveled to the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

As they traveled, the old scholar smiled and asked, ”How was it?”

”She’s not exactly a very beautiful girl,” the sword spirit replied.

The old scholar rubbed his hands together and said with an awkward expression, ”I wasn’t asking about that.”

”Oh, you were asking about Chen Qingdu? It’s been ten thousand years, so our brief chat and reminiscence went quite well,” the tall woman responded.

The old scholar scrunched up his face, feeling like now was not a suitable time to ask too many questions.

The sword spirit glanced down at Stalactite Mountain and said casually, ”Chen Qingdu has agreed to let one more person through, to make a total of three people. You can satisfy the Confucian temple’s request now.”

”What? Senior, your lofty status was only worth one additional person?!” the old scholar fumed. ”Is Chen Qingdu trying to revolt?! What utter impudence!”

”I can instruct Chen Qingdu not to let a single person through. That way, my lofty status will be worth four people, no?” the sword spirit replied.

”How can I possibly ask you to travel to the Sword Qi Great Wall again, Senior?” the old scholar said in a righteous voice. ”Three people is also fine. Chen Qingdu might be stingy, but righteous scholars like me still need to uphold propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame.”

The sword spirit looked down again, glancing at the Flood Dragon Trench. The old scholar also glanced down, and he huffed, ”I say we forget about them. There are only some small fry left.”

A streak of white light and a puff of azure smoke disappeared in a flash, instantly traveling thousands of kilometers on the way from Stalactite Mountain to the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. To say nothing of sword immortals soaring through the skies on their swords, even intercontinental messenger flying swords couldn’t travel at such an astonishing speed.

The sword spirit raised a hand and moved her fingers slightly.

The old scholar craned his neck and glanced over, feeling slightly uneasy as he asked in an uncertain voice, ”What are you doing?”

”Recording things,” the sword spirit replied in an apathetic voice.

”Recording what?” the old scholar asked carefully. ”Recording the crimes of Lu Chen? Or recording the crimes of that stinky Daoist priest from the Observing Dao Temple?”

”Recording how many times you call me ’Senior,’” the sword spirit replied with a faint smile.

”How could you do that?” the old scholar exclaimed in a pained voice. ”I’m not very old, but have I ever cared about other old geezers referring to me as an old scholar? Referring to others as ’Senior’ is out of respect, while referring to me as an old scholar or impoverished scholar is something of a joke. How many people respectfully refer to me as the Scholarly Sage? Who can I vent my pain and frustration to...?”

The sword spirit retracted her hand and glanced down at the sect located in the sea, the one with both a deity statue representing a formal rain god and a divine general statue representing an official of the Heavenly Court’s Northern Heavenly Gate, asking, ”How has Bai Ze chosen?”

The old scholar smiled and replied, ”He made a good choice, saying that he wanted to wait for a while longer.”

”And the resulting merit from this choice?” the sword spirit asked.

”It won’t count. How can it count, and who can it count towards? He’s no longer with us,” the old scholar said with a shake of his head.

”Scholars are quite good at keeping tabs and accounts,” the sword spirit commented with a snicker.

The old scholar nodded and concurred, ”You’re right about that. It’s quite mentally tiring, to be honest with you.”

The sword spirit turned around and said, ”No, something’s not right.”

The old scholar huffed and said, ”It was too risky for you to go to the Sword Qi Great Wall. I suggested that I could make a promise with my life, but those bloody criminals at the Confucian temple refused to accept my proposal, no matter what. As a result, a portion of merit that should have belonged to my closing disciple was used up.

”There are few generous scholars belonging to the lineage of the Second Sage, and all of them are as miserly as can be. Can stingy sages be regarded as true sages? If my divine statue were still enshrined at the Confucian temple, standing there in boredom with the old geezers, then I would have expounded some reason to the crappy lineage of the Second Sage a long time ago.

”I guess this is all my fault. Back when I was still respected and revered, those at the Confucian schools and academies tried everything they could to invite me over to give lectures. However, I was thin-skinned and liked to put on airs, so I didn’t give anywhere near as many lectures as I should have. Otherwise, if I had visited more of those schools and academies back then, Little Ping’an would have many more seniors who weren’t technically senior brothers, but perhaps even better than senior brothers.”

The sword spirit was surprisingly unfazed about the old scholar using up her master’s merit. It appeared as if this action suited her tastes.

As for the old scholar’s remark about making a promise with his life, she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by his shamelessness. The impoverished scholar was unlike a human, unlike a ghost, and unlike a deity, and was he not aware of this awkward situation himself? Who in the Majestic World was capable of killing him now?

The Paramount Sage definitely wouldn’t make a move, and the same was true for the Etiquette Sage. Meanwhile, the battle between the Second Sage and the Scholarly Sage only pertained to their Great Dao, and it had absolutely nothing to do with any private grievances.

The old scholar nodded to himself and continued, ”It would have been a waste not to use this merit, and the earlier it’s used up, the better, lest my disciple feel upset after learning of its existence. Being entangled with this merit wasn’t a good thing to begin with. I’m not trying to boast or anything, but those belonging to my lineage are all ambitious and knowledgeable, possessing exemplary characters and displaying great generosity.

”Little Ping’an has visited three continents and traveled far and wide, yet he hasn’t visited a single Confucian academy. This is a clear reflection of his attitude toward our scholarly temples, schools, and academies. He feels frustration and anger in his heart, and I view this as a very good thing. This is the way it should be.”

”What about Cui Chan?” the sword spirit asked with a smile.

”Have I ever taken this person as my disciple before? I only recall having a grand-disciple by the name of Cui Dongshan,” the old scholar replied with a baffled expression.

”I feel like Cui Chan’s demeanor is the closest to those human ancestors,” the sword spirit stated.

”Who said it wasn’t?” the old scholar replied with an adrift look.

He paused for a moment before murmuring, ”I also made mistakes, but it’s a shame that I no longer have the opportunity to right my wrongs. This is life. The ability to identify mistakes and make positive changes is a great virtue; the ability to identify mistakes but not have the opportunity to make changes is a great regret, a great pain.”

However, the old scholar quickly wiped away the dark fog in his mind, tugging at his beard as he smiled. The past couldn’t be chased, but the future could be pursued. Indeed, hadn’t he found himself a closing disciple?

Senior? What senior?

He was indeed younger, but the two of them possessed the same seniority.