Unsheathed

The ferry station at Ox Horn Mountain was no longer used exclusively by the Great Li Empire’s intercontinental military ships, with an increasing number of commercial intercontinental ships docking and setting sail from here.

Pei Qian’s eyes were glowing as she looked at this. These were all immortal coins rolling into her master’s pockets!

Because this so-called distant trip was to another territory owned by her master, the young girl in black standing beside Pei Qian felt like she couldn’t appear more impressive at this moment, with a small carrying pole on her shoulder and the hiking pole in her hand.

Even so, Zhou Mili felt like it was a slight shame that she couldn’t stick two pieces of paper on her forehead, one reading ”Right Guardian of Downtrodden Mountain” and the other reading ”Great Water Monster of Mute Lake.”

Chen Nuanshu was discussing some miscellaneous matters with Chen Lingjun, who was imminently about to leave for the Northern Complete Reed Continent. Chen Lingjun yawned again and again as he listened.

Pei Qian crossed her arms and looked around, nodding lightly in a very satisfied manner as she inspected her master’s flourishing territory.

”Chen Lingjun is about to leave, so shouldn’t we say a few words?” Zhou Mili asked in a quiet voice. ”It will also look a bit more sincere if we squeeze out a few tears.”

Pei Qian rolled her eyes and replied, ”Where have the tenets of Downtrodden Mountain gone? Did you treat them as rice in the bowl and gobble them up?”

She freed a hand and patted the little shorty’s head, saying in a meaningful manner, ”Master said before that principles are like a large porcelain bowl, while other external matters are the meat and vegetables that go in the bowl. As such, you’ll always have food to eat as long as you don’t lose the bowl.

”So, what are the principles? I can’t figure it out, so your befuddled little brain will struggle even more, Little Mili. Since that’s the case, we only need to remember the rules and regulations of Downtrodden Mountain, and we won’t go wrong if we abide by them.”

Zhou Mili furrowed her brows, but she quickly relaxed them again, understanding what Pei Qian was getting at.

”Oh, we’ll need to give farewell presents if we speak to Chen Lingjun, won’t we?” Zhou Mili whispered. ”That’s not good at all! Our relationship is already so good, so let’s do away with these shallow and surface-level things!”

Pei Qian squeezed Little Mili’s cheeks and said with a laugh, ”What are you on about?”

Zhou Mili also started to chuckle.

Pei Qian stood still and took a deep breath, after which she threw an extremely slow and short punch, saying to herself, ”Rolling a needle between my fingers, knocking down a crowd with my fist; launching a punch like an arrow, retracting my punch like a flying sword...”

”Say what?” Zhou Mili asked in confusion.

Pei Qian continued to throw her extremely slow punches, saying with a serious expression, ”I’ve created another peerless fist technique following the Deranged Demon Sword Technique, and all of the mantras have been written by me. It’s shockingly powerful.”

After saying this, Pei Qian immediately started to spew nonsense again, continuing, ”Looking at all of the fist techniques in the world, Master’s fist technique is naturally the most powerful. Apart from that, however, two other fist techniques are also very powerful. One is the Bastard Fist Technique, and the other is a fist technique stolen from the Heavenly Bridge Faction.”

Zhou Mili felt like she wasn’t stupid, so she was slightly skeptical as she asked, ”In what way is your fist technique powerful? Can you fly around after practicing this fist technique?”

”Only Far Roaming Tier martial artists can soar through the sky,” Pei Qian snapped, impatience showing on her face. ”It’s far too early for me, and I need to cultivate for several more years before reaching this level.”

Zhou Mili stomped a foot and exclaimed in vexation, ”It will take that much longer?! How many more roasted seeds will you still need to eat?!”

”Did you think it is easy to reach the eighth tier of martial arts?” Pei Qian asked in helplessness.

Zhou Mili faltered for a moment before holding the hiking pole under her armpit and freeing a hand to scratch her cheek. ”But you’re Pei Qian.”

Pei Qian smiled widely and retracted her fist, placing her hand on Little Mili’s head and shaking it back and forth. ”Your head looks quite small, so how are you so clever?”

After having her head pushed around for a long while, Zhou Mili suddenly sighed and lamented, ”Why is the mountain master still not returning home?”

Pei Qian chuckled and said, ”Didn’t I tell you already? Thanks to Master’s powerful push to promote you, there are already many stories about Mute Lake’s great water monster being told around the Sword Qi Great Wall. You have to remember, that’s a completely separate world! You can feel very happy about this, okay?”

Zhou Mili started to scratch her cheek again, saying, ”But I would rather he return earlier than tell these stories.”

Pei Qian made a face and asked, ”Will you treat Master to sauerkraut fish if he returns?”

Zhou Mili scrunched up her face and asked in a timid voice, ”We’ll eat a small pot instead of a big pot?”

Pei Qian was amused, but she also felt a twinge of sadness at the same time.

After growing up, it was very difficult for those large and small worries to be like temporary guests in her mind, leaving as quickly as they came. Things were very different from before.

Pei Qian hadn’t really understood her master in the past, unsure of why he was unwilling to see her and Big Sister Baoping grow up too quickly.

Looking at Little Mili now, Pei Qian was starting to understand her master.

Chen Lingjun was about to board the intercontinental ship, so Pei Qian smacked Zhou Mili’s head and said, ”Let’s go and say goodbye. Remember what Master said before: We can’t say ’May the wind be behind you’ if our friend is traveling on an intercontinental ship.”

”Yes, I remember!” Zhou Mili said with a vigorous nod.

Nuanshu, Pei Qian, and Little Mili all bid farewell to Chen Lingjun.

He was a bit unaccustomed to this, but he also felt quite happy. Of course, he was unwilling to let this happiness show on his face.

After Chen Lingjun’s intercontinental ship departed, Pei Qian and the others waited until the ship disappeared behind the sea of clouds before returning to Downtrodden Mountain.

Chen Nuanshu turned around to glance at the sea of clouds.

”Rest assured, everything will be okay,” Pei Qian said softly. ”Chen Lingjun might look immature a lot of the time, but he’s actually very crafty and clever.”

Chen Nuanshu smiled widely, and Pei Qian held the hands of two young girls.

She was already much taller than Chen Nuanshu and Zhou Mili now.

She finally looked like a proper young girl.

Chen Lingjun was bored and had nothing better to do in his room on the intercontinental ship, so he rested his head on the table and became adrift.

In reality, Chen Lingjun had started to feel regret immediately after boarding the intercontinental ship owned by the Flax Robe Sect at the ferry station of Ox Horn Mountain. He wanted to jump overboard and quietly sneak back. In any case, Downtrodden Mountain had many businesses and territories now, so he could randomly find any old place to go into hiding. Wei Bo most likely wouldn’t want to see him, and he might not even complain about his presence to the old cook, Pei Qian, and the others.

Chen Lingjun could then show up at Downtrodden Mountain after a few days, and he could make up a random reason to explain his return. For example, he had forgotten to flick through the lunar almanac to choose a good day, he was worried about Yellow Lake Mountain, he had forgotten to bid farewell to his friends at the Imperial River, it was actually quite good to cultivate in earnest at home, and so on and so forth...

There was a large bamboo bookcase on the table, and in a rare display of generosity, Mountain God Wei had even lent him a minimization treasure.

There were many maps of the Northern Complete Reed Continent in the bamboo bookcase, some illustrated by immortal forces and many others from the secret collections of the imperial court. There was also a large and chaotic stack of local chronicles, and several booklets personally written by Chen Ping’an, detailing the many major and minor matters to be aware of.

In the words of the old cook, the only thing Chen Ping’an didn’t write warnings about was where to shit and piss, so if Chen Lingjun still failed to successfully complete his river journey, then he might as well drown himself and fuck off.

Chen Lingjun was actually still afraid.

He had always disliked moving around, and the same was true when he had stayed at the Yellow Court Nation’s Imperial River, where he had reigned supreme with the water god of the river. This was also the case after he arrived at Downtrodden Mountain, and he never visited Red Candle Town, unlike Pei Qian and Little Mili, who would occasionally go there to wander around.

Chen Lingjun only strolled around the mountains surrounding Downtrodden Mountain, chatting about trivial nonsense with the immortals in these neighboring mountains. He would also swagger around and patrol the various territories with the large black python, appearing as carefree as could be.

After the blind old Daoist priest called Jia Cheng moved from Dragon Riding Alley to Yellow Lake Mountain to cultivate in a thatched cottage, Chen Lingjun would visit very often, with the two of them getting along very well. If spouting bullshit was truly useful, then the entire Majestic World might one day fall under their rule.

However, Chen Lingjun was now aware that people were only treating him with such respect because of his relationship with Chen Ping’an.

Chen Lingjun didn’t dislike this situation. In fact, he was quite fond of it.

No matter how good the atmosphere and culture at Downtrodden Mountain were, it was inevitable that the closeness of people would still vary, and there would still be a notion of who had joined earlier or later.

In this sense, both he and Nuanshu, that stupid little melon, were so-called seniors who had joined Downtrodden Mountain the earliest.

It was only afterward that the old cook, Pei Qian, Shi Rou, the airheaded Cen Yuanji, the naive Yuan Bao, the ”Dim Number Two” Yuan Lai, the ”Dim Lord” Cao Qinglang, and the kidnapped Little Mili from the Northern Complete Reed Continent had joined.

There were times when even Chen Lingjun himself felt like Wei Bo, the old cook, and the others were looking down on him. However, they couldn’t be blamed for this, and Chen Lingjun was genuinely the one to blame for not being motivated and ambitious enough. He always liked to meander around and spout nonsense as he waited for death.

More people would mean more liveliness, and just how good was that?

But traveling all the way to the Northern Complete Reed Continent by himself to cultivate? What cultivation?

There was Skeleton Shoal, the Flax Robe Sect, Mural City, Sect Leader Zhu Quan, the two guest elders of Downtrodden Mountain, Mute Lake, Liu Zhiqing, Spring Dew Garden, Cloudtop City, Plenty River, the Dragon Palace Small World in the central region, the mountain in the western region, Lion Peak, Li Er and his wife, Li Huai and Li Liu, and Little Baoping and Li Xisheng.

There were also the friends of his master, a fire god shrine, the Great Emblem Sword Sect’s Liu Jinglong, and Liu Jinglong’s disciple, Little White Head.

Was Chen Lingjun going to the Northern Complete Reed Continent to cultivate for a better future? No, he was going to visit friends and acquaintances with gifts in hand, okay?!

It looked like it was inevitable that he would need to jump overboard!

Chen Lingjun packed his belongings and started to sneak from the second level of the intercontinental ship to the first level. However, Wei Bo suddenly materialized near the railings of the intercontinental ship.

Chen Lingjun laughed loudly and said, ”There’s no need to be so polite and friendly, Mountain God Wei. There’s no need to see me off.”

Wei Bo smiled and asked, ”Have you forgotten that the entire region of the Northern Mountain is my jurisdiction?”

Chen Lingjun giddily ran over to massage the mountain god’s shoulders, replying, ”How can I possibly dare to forget? Even if I’m busting to piss, I would still hold it in to avoid soiling the magnificent mountains and rivers around the Northern Mountain!”

”The subsidiary mountain of the Northern Mountain is located at the northernmost point of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, and I’ll make sure to give a heads-up to the mountain god there and ask him to watch over the intercontinental ship as it sails to the sea,” Wei Bo said.

”It won’t be too late for you to jump overboard then, and I won’t be able to hold you back. You can slowly make your way back, and it’s completely up to your own mood whether you return to shore in the jurisdiction of the Eastern Mountain, at Ganzhou Mountain, or somewhere else.”

Chen Lingjun was stupefied.