Unsheathed

The person who had allowed Chen Ping’an to truly come to a realization and to use the same principles in all matters of life was actually Ning Yao when she had first traveled to the Jewel Small World.

When encountering any problem in life, one should first control one’s emotions and focus all attention on identifying the root cause of the issue.

Ning Yao’s speech and actions were crisp and straightforward, and she never dilly-dallied or beat around the bush. Even so, she wouldn’t strike people as a cold and heartless person.

Later, while reading books during his travels, Chen Ping’an came across the phrase ”The winter is adorable, the summer is frightening” in a history book, which resonated strongly with him.

In contrast to Ning Yao, some of the prodigies, such as Ma Kuxuan, were like the scorching summer sun hanging high in the sky, completely uncaring about the potential droughts and mass casualties in the human world.

A person’s encounters in life would silently and subtly shape the way they viewed and resonated with the various principles in the world.

They would instantly fall in love with some principles, unable to let go no matter what.

They would feel neutral toward other principles, or perhaps even a sense of resentment.

Cui Dongshan had once chuckled and remarked that if one were willing to carefully examine the human heart, digging deep into its depths, would there still exist any unexplainable or unreasonable emotions of joy and anger? These were merely external displays of the emotions in one’s heart, emotions that traveled along different paths at different speeds.

Cui Dongshan had also revealed some secrets, saying that the tenet of his knowledge was setting up nine relatively general principles for the hazy concepts of life, death, the seven emotions, and the six desires. He had then divided them up into thirty-six more detailed rules.

Beyond these principles and rules were three of the most fundamental rules of calculation. As these different parts interacted with each other and criss-crossed, they actually formed nothing more than a Go board. Each thought and consideration of a person would sprout and die on this Go board, with traceable reasons for their rise and fall.

This side of Cui Dongshan was naturally very terrifying.

In fact, Chen Ping’an had a vague feeling that as long as the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent was defended from the Savage World’s conquest in the future, Cui Dongshan’s growth would be even quicker and loftier than that of Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan.

As such, Chen Ping’an needed to act more like a legitimate master.

If a master only taught their disciple Dao power and fist techniques, and if the disciple was more talented and enjoyed better fated opportunities, allowing their fist technique to one day overtake their master’s, then the relationship between the master and the disciple would often become very complicated.

If a teacher only taught the principles in the scriptures to their disciples, yet the teacher wasn’t morally upright to begin with, how could they possibly hope that their disciples would still sincerely respect them upon gaining loftier knowledge in the future?

”You commented that Li Zhen would have been terrifying had he grown up, but in the moment before his death, Li Zhen most definitely felt like you were already a very terrifying person,” Grandma Bai suddenly smiled and said.

Chen Ping’an was already suffering the consequences of his words and actions so soon.

He smiled wryly and responded, ”I simply wish that all of my opponents view me as a weak and easily bullied pushover.”

Grandma Bai stood up and walked away, saying in a soft voice, ”I won’t disturb your rest and recuperation. Young Mistress said before that you can feel at ease and continue to recover here. She, Die Zhang, Dong Huafu, and the others can look after themselves at the city wall.”

Chen Ping’an nodded and also stood up, suddenly asking, ”The details of my battle with Li Zhen haven’t spread around, have they?”

Grandma Bai smiled and replied, ”The sword immortals who witnessed the battle from the city wall didn’t say anything, but there are currently three versions of the story circulating around the city, originating from Lü Duan, the young lady of the Dong Clan, and Gu Jianlong. Which version do you want to hear?”

Chen Ping’an could feel a headache forming, and he answered, ”I’ll just listen to Gu Jianlong’s version.”

Grandma Bai smiled and said, ”Well, this version isn’t as exciting as the other two. Little Lü Duan’s story is the most exaggerated, and she’s truly proven herself to be your disciple with her inheritance of your storytelling skills. She can go on for more than an hour about Li Zhen’s twenty powerful celestial tools.

”The young lady of the Dong Clan came up with the longest story, and this is in contrast to Gu Jianlong’s story, which is the shortest and most concise of the three. He said that the second shopkeeper had put up with the little brat on the battlefield for a long time, but he was eventually unable to endure the little brat’s nonsense any longer, so he sneakily jumped over and launched a surprise attack on Li Zhen, hacking him to death with a single sword strike.

”Not only that, but the second shopkeeper even managed to make a huge profit, bending down with his head lowered and bum raised in front of all the sword immortals and great demons as he scoured the battlefield for a long time. If it weren’t for the second shopkeeper still wanting to keep some face, he would have gone as far as to retrieve a shovel and scour over the same area seven to eight times. Sure enough, the second shopkeeper never engages in a transaction where he suffers a loss.

”These are Gu Jianlong’s actual words, and I was only repeating them to you.”

Grandma Bai couldn’t wipe the smile from her face as she said this.

In reality, she had already left out some of the more humorous parts of the story.

”The shamelessness and thick skin of the second shopkeeper are incredible. If he rests against the city wall with his face on the ground, I surmise that we won’t need a single sword immortal to guard the city wall and fight against the demons. Everyone can get on with their lives or drink wine and snack on roasted seeds as they enjoy the good show at the city wall. In any case, the demons of the Savage World won’t be able to breach the second shopkeeper’s thick skin and ascend the city wall even if they draw on their full strength and attack for a hundred years.”

Gu Jianlong was from Taixiang Street, and he had been renowned for his loose and unrestrained comments from a very young age. He wasn’t a bad person, and he had always enjoyed a good relationship with Qi Shou’s circle. Afterward, he also developed fairly good relationships with Pang Yuanji and Gao Yehou.

Chen Ping’an held his hands inside his opposite sleeves and walked beside Grandma Bai, saying with a grin, ”This is as expected of Gu Jianlong, someone whose flying sword is called Arsenic. I’ve already put up with his nonsense for a while, so I’ll definitely invite him to the wine shop for a drink when I return afterward.”

”There’s more to the story?” Grandma Bai asked in curiosity.

Chen Ping’an nodded and explained, ”That little bastard always complains about me being too ruthless regarding selling wine and hosting bets, so he’s clearly trying to damage my reputation with this story.”

Grandma Bai held back a smile and concurred, ”This is far too unreasonable. You should indeed give him a good talking to when you return.”

Chen Ping’an saw Grandma Bai off at the entrance before quickly making his way to the wing room where the seals and folding fans were stored. He grabbed a handful of Go stones from the container on the table, but he had already given his original engraving knife, which had inscribed countless bamboo slips, to his disciple, Cao Qinglang, so he could only use his flying sword, Fifteenth, to inscribe characters instead.

Each time he finished inscribing characters on a Go stone, he would record all of the relevant details he remembered onto a piece of paper.

After killing Li Zhen and crushing his head and shattering his soul on the battlefield, Chen Ping’an had finished by pointing his sword at the old man in gray. This was reckless and based on emotion, but there was more to it than just this.

It was also for the sake of openly taking a few more glances at those great demons from a close distance, those paramount beings who stood at the pinnacle of the Savage World.

Chen Ping’an planned to write a detailed book about the great demons of the Savage World.

There were two books on the table, one of which almost every single sword cultivator at the Sword Qi Great Wall owned. The other was a book that the Great Emblem Sword Sect’s Disciplinary Sword Immortal Huang Tong had given Li Cai back then. Qi Jinglong had made a copy of this book and given it to Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an shut his eyes.

The old great sword immortal’s sword strike had actually been a message to those sword immortals who had already remained hidden or been lying low in that foreign land for many years, those like-minded individuals who were carrying out tasks similar to that of Great Sword Immortal Yue Qing.

They could draw their blades now.

And thus, further south of the Sword Qi Great Wall and the battlefield, chaos and commotion gripped the Savage World following that sword strike as unrest rippled through the regions.

The sword immortals who had concealed themselves in the Savage World didn’t expose their identities straight away, and they instead started to secretly reel in the nets, taking advantage of their various positions and powers to trigger many internal conflicts.

Some other sword immortals, who had hidden their identities and cultivated alone in the Savage World, started to quietly make their way to a gathering spot according to some agreement they had made prior to leaving the Sword Qi Great Wall.

There were also some sword immortals who changed their minds after initially thinking that they had cut off all ties with the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Atop some mountain towering into the white clouds, a sword immortal directly crushed his scabbard and descended the mountain with his now scabbardless sword.

In some water nation in the Savage World, a sword immortal stepped onto their blade and soared into the sky.

Inside a flourishing region that was no inferior to the mortal capitals of the Majestic World, a sword immortal closed their shop and beheaded the emperor with a single slash, after which they held a pot of wine in one hand and flew north on their sword.

A sword immortal had been tempering their blade in volcanic lava for hundreds of years, and they laughed loudly at this moment as they sheathed their sword and embarked on the journey home.

There was an old sword immortal who had already established a sect and overseen it for many years in the Savage World, and he resolutely exited seclusion and wielded his sword without fear of death. He wasn’t doing this for the sake of the Sword Qi Great Wall, nor for the sake of Chen Qingdu. Rather, he was doing this because he was a human sword cultivator.

Chen Ping’an was temporarily unaware of these things, and all he could do was focus on the matters in his sight and within his reach.

Having picked up many items on the battlefield like a stingy wandering merchant, Chen Ping’an retrieved a white jade tablet, a minimization treasure.

The old man in gray had personally told him not to push his luck before, so Chen Ping’an had heeded his advice and not pushed his luck by collecting all of the valuables on the battlefield. Truth be told, Chen Ping’an would have done the same even without the ”encouragement” from the old man in gray.

The old great sword immortal hadn’t stopped Chen Ping’an, signifying that the items on the battlefield hadn’t been tampered with and were safe for him to collect.

Of the eighteen immortal treasures and pseudo-celestial tools that Li Zhen had used as the cores of the large formation, more than half of them had been destroyed.

Even so, they were still extremely rare treasures no matter how damaged they were. With this in mind, it would have clearly been a waste to leave them behind, hence Chen Ping’an’s decision to collect them all.

Of course, some of the treasures were relatively undamaged.

For example, there was the Daoist Five Lightning Dao Seal, which was extremely heavy despite only being the size of a palm.

The material of the Dao seal was unclear, and it resembled both jade and wood even though it was neither.

The seals collected and placed on study tables by those in the human world seldom contained engravings of human figures, much less the self-portraits of scholars and literati.

However, this Dao seal contained depictions of a thunder general, a lightning goddess, a wind lord, a rain god, a cloud guardian, a heavenly official, and many other primordial deities.

The characters inscribed using bird-worm seal script read: Gathering the Five Lightnings, encompassing all Dao; Severing the five deficiencies, becoming the core of heaven and earth.[1]

These words were extremely bold, so bold that they yearned to swallow heaven and earth.

However, those who cultivated the orthodox Five Lightning Righteous Technique and were genuinely lofty Daoist spiritual masters who had attained the Great Dao could indeed claim to be one with heaven and earth, allowing them to grasp the fabric of fate in their hands.

Among them, the esteemed Daoist priests from Mount Longhu’s Heavenly Master Residence represented one of the most powerful groups.

There was a world-renowned horizontal scroll that hadn’t been composed by the Daoist priests of Mount Longhu, and had instead been gifted to them by someone else.

The horizontal scroll read: Wind, lightning, clouds, and rain rise from the palm, all immortal formulations birthed from this place.

Chen Ping’an held the valuable Daoist treasure that had ”only” fallen one grade and chuckled, saying to himself, ”These numbers are the building blocks of all matter, with five representing earth and commanding the four directions. You have a chance to return to the pseudo-celestial grade in the future.[2]

”You were unfortunate in the past, coming across such a heartless owner, but it’s good fortune for both of us now that you’re in my hands. You can accompany me to slay demons and vanquish fiends when I become a mighty Middle Five Tier immortal and learn lightning techniques in the future.”

Chen Ping’an used his sleeve to thoroughly clean the horizontal scroll before gently placing it on the table. He could perform advanced refinement on this treasure in the future, and he would hang it beside the entrance of his wood residence, just like those evil-warding copper mirrors hung inside the mortal residences in the small town.

He retrieved another paramount treasure that had fallen to the level of immortal treasure, the copper treasure pagoda that was a replica of the White Jade Capital.

Chen Ping’an was the happiest about seeing and obtaining this item.

He would place it inside the mountain shrine after completing advanced refinement on it.

Chen Ping’an didn’t have many thoughts about establishing more critical acupoints to store his bonded items, and thinking too much about this would be useless now that he had become a second tier cultivator.

The final treasure was a picture scroll, with the ancient wooden rods fractured, and the painting itself damaged. The eighteen lifelike sword immortals depicted in the painting were the most top-notch sword cultivators in the history of the Savage World.

It was a shame that the picture scroll was far too damaged, rendering it almost worthless.

In the beginning, Chen Ping’an thought to himself that he couldn’t be so biased, and he could give the painting scroll to the small golden person after refining it. However, a sharp and unexpected pain instantly struck his chest.

The small golden person was truly very difficult to serve and satisfy! He was even looking down on Chen Ping’an’s potential gift for him.

Chen Ping’an could only change his mind, thinking that he would place the picture scroll in the mountain shrine alongside the copper treasure pagoda.

He placed all of the treasures inside his minimization treasure and left the wing room, walking to the entrance of the small residence before returning to the courtyard.

He couldn’t help but feel anxious about the situation at the city wall.

And thus, he started to practice the six-step walking meditation.

After completing the fist stance a few times, Chen Ping’an still couldn’t conceal the faint smell of blood on his body despite wearing a Dao robe.

Things wouldn’t be easy when a cultivator suffered a drop in cultivation base.

Chen Ping’an had gone the extra and unnecessary step to ask Grandma Bai about whether the process of the battle had been divulged just then, and this hadn’t had much to do with whether things were a plot or not.

It was simply the case that Chen Ping’an didn’t want too many people at the Sword Qi Great Wall to know about this side of him.

Between the rising land and the descending sea of clouds, Chen Ping’an’s true body and yin soul had actually been hazy during the overwhelming tribulations of heaven and earth.

Thus, Chen Ping’an had felt incredibly content and delighted even though he had been trapped in a perilous situation.

This was seemingly how life should be.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t calm down when seated, and he still felt uneasy even when he practiced walking meditation.

In the end, he went inside to sit down and inscribe seals, but he would give every single copper coin back to the Sword Qi Great Wall even if he made money from this. However, the process of earning money itself was a very satisfying one, yet many people didn’t understand this joy.

There were countless sword cultivators at the Sword Qi Great Wall, but there were very few scholars. Thus, when it came to inscribing seals and writing on folding fans, it wouldn’t matter much for the holder of the knife or brush to make small blemishes due to an uneasy heart.

Sitting in front of the table, Chen Ping’an grabbed his Sword Nurturing Gourd and occasionally took a sip of wine.

He held Fifteenth in his hand and inscribed another stone seal that was as snow-white as jade.

The side of the seal read: The people in the world act as expected, always busy vying for fame and fortune, making me roll my eyes in the martial world.

The inscription on the seal read: Time to drink wine.

Chen Ping’an started to inscribe another seal.

The side inscription read: Poets and lyricists throughout history have always longed to destroy the character of love, and only I lament that love and sorrow never visit my door. I drink my damned wine and fury rises from within; I slam my book down and break apart the delicate verses.

The inscription on the seal read: How miserable single men feel.

He inscribed yet another seal.

The side inscription read: Sword immortals with no money can’t afford wine to get drunk; lithe beauties suddenly have hearty meals to make up for weight lost in summer.

The inscription on the seal read: What should I do?

Chen Ping’an picked up the final seal.

The side inscription read: Moss grows thick on the steps, where a noble descendant waves his fan; vegetables withered by the well, tears stream down his face.

Chen Ping’an was just about to inscribe the seal face, but he suddenly tightened his grip and crushed the seal into smithereens.

He took a deep breath.

He stood up and left the room, walking to the main room under the night sky to retrieve Sword Immortal.

Chen Ping’an unsheathed the sword, and the soft glow of the moon was like water as it washed over the blade.

He sheathed the sword, but he didn’t strap it to his back, instead hanging it by his waist. He then summoned a talismanic boat and made his way to the city wall.

Heroes slay criminals, and sword cultivators kill demons — how could he not yearn for this? And so, he resolutely charged to the battlefield.

1. The bird-worm seal script is a type of ancient seal script originating in Ancient China. ☜

2. This is a line from 道法会元, often used to describe lightning techniques. ☜