Unsheathed

A tall and sturdy young man and a remarkably beautiful young woman walked into the Great Li Empire’s Dragon Province together, the treasured land where the Jewel Small World had shattered and plummeted to the ground.

There were many stories here, and it was also a top-notch cultivation destination in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

However, all matters and people here were seemingly shrouded in mist, making them very difficult to see clearly.

The two people passed a water goddess shrine that was enjoying abundant incense offerings as they walked along the Iron Talisman River and made their way to Locust Yellow County, but they didn’t dare to enter and offer incense due to their status and cultivation backgrounds.

When they finally arrived at the eastern gate of the county city after much difficulty, the young man sighed in relief and said, ”We’ve finally arrived. Miss Ma, should we visit Mr. Chen’s mountain first, or should we visit Gu Can’s home in the provincial city? It might be more difficult to find Downtrodden Mountain, whereas it should be relatively easier to navigate around the provincial city.”

Things had been tough for the two of them as they traveled north to Dragon Province, especially since Gu Can had suddenly left and told them to travel north alone. Meanwhile, Gu Can traveled to Light Breeze City to visit the Xu Clan alongside that strange scholar called Liu Chicheng. This caused the timid Zeng Ye to feel extremely uneasy.

Zeng Ye’s life had undergone a huge transformation when Cyan Gorge Island’s Zhang Ye had dragged him out from the torturous Thatch Moon Island and brought him to the thatched cottage at the foot of carefree, where he had met Chen Ping’an for the first time.

He had met Gu Can not long afterward, with his initial fear of the young boy gradually transforming into a feeling of closeness and eventually reliance. Only a few years had passed, and this was a mere instant for cultivators who liked to sit down and cultivate in tranquility.

In the beginning, Zeng Ye would have nightmares whenever Gu Can shot a casual glance at him. This had changed at some unknown time, however, and he would now feel uncomfortable without Gu Can by his side. Every step he took would feel shaky as he traversed mountains and crossed rivers.

Zeng Ye, innately suited to practicing the Dao of ghosts, had actually enjoyed a great cultivation speed and many breakthroughs over the past few years. Indeed, this only appeared unremarkable because he was always accompanied by Gu Can.

Zeng Ye was a proper Sea Observation Tier Qi refiner now, so he could already be regarded as a so-called Lofty Middle Five Tier Immortal in the mountains and martial worlds of ordinary vassal nations.

He was cultivating an unorthodox technique and possessed a relatively strong yin aura, but he was still able to get close to those temples and immortal mountains before, thanks to Gu Can’s presence. Now that they had parted ways with Gu Can, however, Zeng Ye no longer dared to approach these places.

This was especially the case given Ma Duyi was a ghost, and she could only walk in the human world because of the Fox Skin Beauty Talisman. In other words, the powerful immortals in the mountains would very likely view them as filthy existences that were a stain on the Great Dao.

There was a jade tablet hanging by Ma Duyi’s waist, and it was none other than the Peace and Safety Tablet that Gu Can had given them. She thought for a moment before saying with a smile, ”Let’s go to Downtrodden Mountain first. We have a very close relationship with Mr. Chen, so we probably won’t be refused entry even if Mr. Chen isn’t home. It shouldn’t be hard to sit down inside and ask for some tea, right?”

Zeng Ye grinned and replied, ”That sounds good. I was thinking along the same lines.”

There were always a few people who would make him feel more at ease, even just thinking about them.

They tried to ask the residents for directions after passing the county city of Locust Yellow County, but they found that their languages were mutually unintelligible. It took them a lot of effort to find a shopkeeper who could speak the official dialect of the Great Li Empire, but the shopkeeper also didn’t know the specific address of Downtrodden Mountain.

He could only give an approximate location, saying that they needed to first find True Jewel Mountain after passing the small town. This mountain was nothing more than a big hill, and they could try their luck asking an immortal in that mountain for directions.

The two of them looked around for a long time after entering the undulating mountain range filled with spiritual energy, and they finally managed to find Gray Veil Mountain, a subordinate mountain of Downtrodden Mountain. They continued to travel south, yet they saw something inconceivable when they reached the side of Downtrodden Mountain that was filled with steep falls and jagged cliffs, not far away from the southern mountain gate.

Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi saw a young girl in black standing with her back to them and gazing up at a tall cliff of the mountain, where a sea of clouds was hovering like a snow-white belt. The young girl had a small golden carrying pole on one shoulder, and she shouted loudly, ”Pei Qian, Pei Qian, don’t miss the landing spot this time! It’s a lot of hard work to fill in the craters!”

Zeng Ye glanced at the area surrounding the young girl, and there was indeed a huge number of craters.

Moreover, the verdant bamboo hiking pole on the young girl’s shoulder looked extremely familiar!

The young girl in black suddenly turned around and looked at the two outsiders who had come to a stop in the distance. She then fled at a rapid speed.

Zeng Ye looked up vigorously.

A speck of black blasted through the sea of clouds, whistling through the air before furiously plummeting down. In the next instant, a skinny figure thudded heavily to the ground, releasing a huge boom and throwing plumes of dust into the air as the earth trembled.

Zeng Ye focused his attention and stared intently into the distance.

A skinny and slightly tanned young woman slowly straightened her knees and stood up, after which she turned around to look at the young girl in black who was squatting down and clutching her head beside the large crater.

”What’s going on, Little Mili?” Pei Qian grumbled. ”If it weren’t for me having a sharp eye and changing my trajectory, you would also be at the bottom of the crater right now. What would we do if you got hurt? Didn’t I tell you to stay still and not run around...?”

As she spoke, the young woman who had just completed a stunning jump took a few seemingly casual steps and arrived at Zhou Mili’s side, shielding her from the two outsiders, whether intentionally or not.

Ma Duyi noticed blood seeping from the crudely woven straw sandals on the young woman’s feet.

She couldn’t help but take a glance at the tall cliff before looking at the young woman again.

Was she jumping from the cliff to commit suicide, or was she doing so for the sake of entertainment?

Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi weren’t pure martial artists, after all, so they were oblivious to the many ingenious details of the young woman jumping from the cliff and crashing to the ground.

She was engaging in a fist duel!

The young woman was using her physical body to challenge the vast earth.

She needed to retract all of her fist intent, which was akin to divine protection, and she needed to rely on her physical body and gravity to race down from the heavens and throw her strongest punches at the human world.

In the words of the young woman, she was throwing vicious strikes at the small head of the vast earth!

This was a fist training technique that Pei Qian had come up with herself, something that Nuanshu naturally didn’t agree with and argued was too dangerous. Pei Qian was only at the peak stage of the fifth tier right now, and her physical body still hadn’t become strong enough. On the other hand, Little Mili felt like this was a reasonable training technique. And thus, with the vote standing at two to one, Pei Qian was allowed to implement this training technique.

Nuanshu had initially wanted to ask the old cook for his opinion, yet Pei Qian had performed the six-step walking meditation, stepping on the six gray bricks paving the ground outside the bamboo building before leaping into the air and vanishing without a trace.

Zhou Mili had lain on the cliff with her bum raised, and Chen Nuanshu had been as worried as could be. The old cook then arrived at the cliff at some unknown time, glancing down at the ground below and clicking his tongue in wonder.

This had allowed Chen Nuanshu to breathe a sigh of relief. By the looks of it, nothing had gone wrong.

Afterward, Pei Qian had climbed up the cliff in no time, limping over with a brilliant glimmer in her eyes as she chortled loudly and exclaimed, ”How satisfying!”

Zhu Lian hadn’t said anything, simply turning around and taking his leave.

Following that, many huge craters had started to appear on the ground, one after another.

Zhou Mili had secretly performed a jumping action to Pei Qian, and she was severely scolded by Chen Nuanshu, who had become angry in a rare display.

This brought them to the current moment, where Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi had arrived to witness this shocking scene.

If this were Downtrodden Mountain’s welcome ceremony, then it was truly very unique.

Pei Qian took a few glances at the two unfamiliar outsiders from afar before asking, ”Does the sound of the abacus come from the left side or the right side?”

Zeng Ye was perplexed by this question.

”Facing the mountain entrance, the bookkeeper’s room lies to the left,” Ma Duyi answered.

Hearing this, Pei Qian smiled and cupped her fists, saying, ”Downtrodden Mountain’s Opening Disciple Pei Qian pays her respects to Mr. Zeng and Big Sister Ma!”

Ma Duyi couldn’t help but sigh with emotion in her mind. This young woman was very clever, and her judgment and observation skills were even better! One had to realize that Gu Can had privately reassured Ma Duyi that Liu Chicheng had already cast an illusion technique on them, helping to conceal their aura as yin entities.

However, he had also reminded her to keep this information from Zeng Ye, letting him act more cautiously as he traveled around. At the time, Ma Duyi had smiled and remarked, ”You’re actually worried about me wandering around and causing trouble, aren’t you?”

Gu Can had smiled and remained silent, simply handing her the incredibly valuable Peace and Safety Tablet.

Only then had Ma Duyi stopped bickering with Gu Can. In reality, Gu Can was more experienced in the martial world and considered many more things. When he wasn’t around, Ma Duyi would sometimes remark to Zeng Ye that Gu Can was truly far too quick at learning new things, no matter what it was. Nothing more needed to be said about his cultivation, but he was also very skilled at mastering the various dialects of the many regions.

Gu Can was able to travel with gallant individuals they had encountered in the martial world, he was able to enjoy hearty conversations with officials on spring outings, and he was also able to make small talk with woodsmen in the mountains and ordinary residents in the markets and streets. It was as if Gu Can could adopt the local customs and seamlessly fit in no matter the time and location. In this regard, he was far superior to both Ma Duyi and Zeng Ye.

Zhou Mili stood beside Pei Qian, cocking her head and furrowing her brows before feigning realization and nodding lightly, pretending that she was an experienced member of the martial world who could understand everything.

They were welcoming two guests right now, so they naturally couldn’t return home along the steep mountain path on this side of the mountain. Thus, Pei Qian led her guests to another mountain entrance.

Of course, she didn’t forget to introduce Little Mili in the meantime, the right guardian of Downtrodden Mountain.

”I’m the right guardian of Downtrodden Mountain now, but I used to be the right guardian of Dragon Riding Alley. I’ve already relinquished that position to...” Zhou Mili began in a quiet voice.

Pei Qian cleared her throat.

Zhou Mili immediately shut up and stood on her tippy-toes, covering her mouth with one hand and saying, ”Don’t record this mistake in your notebook, okay? I haven’t let anything slip yet.”

Pei Qian patted the young girl’s head and didn’t say anything. Record her mistake? In fact, there were only merits recorded against Little Mili and Nuanshu’s names. There was no such thing as a notebook recording their mistakes. Of course, Pei Qian couldn’t reveal this information, or else Little Mili would very easily become complacent.

Ma Duyi’s expression remained calm and composed as she listened to this. In reality, she had faltered and felt astonished for a very long time. Zeng Ye fared slightly better. Mr. Chen always had a calm and easygoing view of people and matters in the world, as long as these people and matters didn’t clash with his principles.

Zheng Dafeng was no longer at the entrance of the mountain.

Instead, it was now Yuan Lai who was temporarily responsible for guarding the main entrance.

Cen Yuanji was coincidentally practicing fist techniques and had just walked from the mountain peak to the mountain foot. She was a fourth tier martial artist right now, but she had stumbled significantly when breaking through the barrier of the third tier, with the outcome good but not amazing. Old Cook Zhu Lian said she had done very well, but Cen Yuanji wasn’t too satisfied with her performance.

She had a close relationship with Yuan Bao, but it was inevitable that there would be competition between them, seeing that they were both pure martial artists. This was often the case with women and young girls. No matter how good their relationships were, there would always be a slight sense of competition hiding behind their attractive brows and sweet smiles. This was human nature, and it was more graceful and moving than the brash competition between men.

In any case, Yuan Bao and Yuan Lai’s master was Lu Baixiang, while Cen Yuanji had always regarded Mr. Zhu as her esteemed Dao mentor. Lu Baixiang and Mr. Zhu seemingly enjoyed the same standing at Downtrodden Mountain, and even though there was no competition between them, Cen Yuanji and Yuan Bao still needed to compete with each other as their disciples.

Seizing the opportunity while his older sister wasn’t present, the azure-clothed Yuan Lai was currently sitting at the foot of the wall and reading. When Cen Yuanji arrived at the foot of the mountain, however, he was no longer in the mood to continue reading. Instead, he turned his gaze to Miss Cen, who was practicing the six-step walking meditation.

Before leaving to embark on his distant journey, Uncle Zheng had left many books for Yuan Lai in the study of his residence. He had also put on a heartfelt expression and told the young boy that he could visit the old cook’s private library when he grew older — the knowledge contained in those books was far greater. This made Yuan Lai feel a sense of yearning.

Upon seeing Pei Qian and the others, he could only drag his soul back from the beautiful eyes of Miss Cen, hurriedly walking to the archway at the mountain entrance. After listening to Pei Qian’s introduction, he bowed in respect to the two outsiders who were old friends with the young mountain master.

However, Yuan Lai suddenly remembered that this was the custom of scholars, so he would definitely get an earful from his older sister if she found out. With this in mind, Yuan Lai hurriedly smiled and cupped his fists in greeting.

After greeting the two guests, Cen Yuanji continued to practice fist techniques, making her way up the mountain.

Mr. Zhu had once told her that effort could only make up for shortcomings if the path being walked was the correct one. One couldn’t be too rigid when practicing fist techniques, and it was necessary to find a source, something akin to a spring, from within the technique if one desired to nurture fist intent. This was the notion of martial artists establishing an intent before practicing fist techniques and ascending to greater heights.

In the end, Mr. Zhu had asked Cen Yuanji to carefully contemplate her reason for practicing fist techniques. What did she hope to achieve from this? Answering this question would mean that practicing fist techniques was no longer a difficult task.

After entering the mountain, Pei Qian discovered that the old cook surprisingly wasn’t home.

Fortunately, Chen Nuanshu was still around, so she didn’t need to worry about making the two guests feel neglected or offended.

Guests of Downtrodden Mountain would all be treated the same way, regardless of their backgrounds and standings.