Unsheathed - Chapter 549 (4): Sword Across the Knees, Looking Around Dazed
Chapter 549 (4): Sword Across the Knees, Looking Around Dazed
At Skeleton Shoal’s Wood Garment Mountain, Pang Lanxi persuaded his grandfather to pick up his calligraphy brush again and draw a few extra sets of celestial maiden murals. He could gift these to other people, and this would be a good reason for him to travel to other continents in the future.
In Malicious Ghost Valley, a small rat spirit sat on the steps outside Sheep Intestine Palace every day, basking in the sun with a long wooden spear resting on his knees. He would diligently guard the gates when his old ancestor was at home. When his old ancestor wasn’t home, however, he would secretly retrieve the books and carefully flip through them.
Inside Skeleton Wall City, Gao Cheng frequently felt uneasy during recent times, yet he couldn’t figure out what was amiss.
At Mute Lake, that kind-hearted water monster was no longer present, and it was said that she had embarked on a distant journey with some young cultivator.
Over at the Golden Crow Palace, Liu Zhiqing, the Golden Core Tier sword cultivator with the highest seniority, was still sitting atop his mountain, unmoving. After sealing the mountain and entering seclusion, Liu Zhiqing watched the myriad forms of life and emotions with a cold gaze, using the human heart to cleanse his sword.
A shopkeeper had been hired for the small shop located on the Spring Dew Garden’s Old Locust Street, and the shop aimed to make continuous profits over a long period of time. However, it was a shame that there were relatively few gullible customers nowadays. This was a slight blemish.
The young shop attendant who used rocks from Luminous Jade Cliff to carve seals and other study table curios was becoming increasingly deft with the carving knife, allowing him to earn money in a conscionable manner.
After arriving at the Great Emblem Sword Sect, Liu Jinglong was now cultivating in seclusion and breaking through to the next tier. It was said that two people were already waiting to challenge him with the sword after he succeeded: Duckweed Sword Lake’s Li Cai, and Dong Zhu.
At the Sacred Lotus Nation’s Peach Blossom Ferry Station, Liu Guibao was studying that Daoist scripture, occasionally recalling the foreign scholar called Huai Qian. While grumbling about her own lack of judgment skills, a slight hint of sadness also lingered in her heart, easily waved away, yet always finding its way back.
Cloudtop City’s Xu Xingjiu had successfully advanced to the Sea Observation Tier, and he was planning to bring a good amount of fine wine to visit Mr. Liu after he advanced to the Upper Five Tiers and successfully withstood the challenges from the three sword immortals. Xu Xingjiu had looked up to this young sword immortal for a long time already, and he had recently learned that Mr. Liu was actually very fond of drinking wine. He was simply unwilling to drink wine during normal times.
With this in mind, Xu Xingjiu had especially trained his own tolerance for wine, causing both Shen Zhenze and Zhao Qingwan to feel slightly worried. They were taken aback by his excessive drinking, speculating whether he was becoming too conceited for his own good. Xu Xingjiu had no option but to explain the situation, revealing Mr. Chen’s comment about his tolerance for wine being too poor. If he didn’t address this shortcoming, he wouldn’t have anything to talk about even if he managed to gain an audience with Mr. Liu. He most definitely wouldn’t be able to drink with Mr. Liu either.
Outside a thatched cottage atop a mountain peak of the Great Emblem Sword Sect, Bai Shou, who had already become an official disciple of the sect, was sitting by himself on a long bench, rocking back and forth in boredom. Alrighty then… That person with the surname Liu was an extremely renowned sword immortal, so Bai Shou had initially thought that he would at least own a magnificent residence with an impressive immortal aura at the Great Emblem Sword Sect. Unexpectedly, however, there was only the small and crappy cottage behind him. There were many books inside, but unfortunately, Bai Shou didn’t like to read!
And thus, Bai Shou started to ponder in his boredom that if he were still an assassin of Deer Cutter Mountain, could he possibly rival those few prodigies of the Great Emblem Sword Sect? However, those cultivators who were the same age as him were all very polite, so he naturally couldn’t reciprocate their smiles with violence. Bai Shou felt like he genuinely couldn’t bring himself to attack them. After all, the gazes of those cultivators were filled with envy as they looked at him.
Bai Shou found this incredibly strange. Were these cultivators that fond of becoming Liu Jinglong’s disciple? Did they want to swap positions with him? However, it was a shame that they would look at him with strange expressions when he proposed this. Afterward, they would no longer wander around the thatched cottage. This worked for Bai Shou as well. It was far more peaceful with just himself.
On the western shore of the Northern Complete Reed Continent, two Daoist priests, one old and one young, appeared near Infant Mountain’s Lightning God Manor.
The young Daoist priest squatted down and vomited uncontrollably. This was the good thing about having a wealth of experience: he had eaten and drunk his fill first, and vomiting something physical was a lot better than retching for half a day.
The old spiritual master squatted down and lightly patted his disciple’s back, saying, “It’s your master’s fault for not being capable enough.”
Zhang Shanfeng turned around and said with a pitiful expression, “Master, you saying this won’t make me feel any better.”
Spiritual Master Fire Dragon smiled faintly and replied, “But this makes your master feel slightly less guilty.”
Zhang Shanfeng took a deep breath and was just about to stand up. However, he immediately squatted down and continued to vomit.
Spiritual Master Fire Dragon was just about to criticize himself again, yet a group of cultivators from Infant Mountain who were flying past overhead immediately roared in laughter upon seeing the young Daoist priest’s awkward state.
Zhang Shanfeng had no time to worry about these matters. His head was throbbing, and his vision was spinning.
The old spiritual master silently vanished at this moment, arriving behind two flying earth immortals and placing his hands on their heads as he said with a wide smile, “What’s so funny? Care to share the joke with me? I also want to have a good laugh.”
The earth immortals went numb with fear, immediately tensing up and shrinking back like terrified little chicks. One of them mustered their courage and replied, “We’re simply overjoyed about coming across Old Immortal!”
The other earth immortal was slightly slower in coming to their senses, and they hurriedly exclaimed, “Absolutely delighted! I’m ecstatic about this chance encounter with Old Immortal!”
With a light push, Spiritual Master Fire Dragon sent the two earth immortals stumbling forward. He then returned to Zhang Shanfeng’s side with a smile.
Zhang Shanfeng was completely oblivious to his master’s departure and return.
After he stood up, Zhang Shanfeng wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, “Master, we can keep going now.”
Spiritual Master Fire Dragon smiled and said, “There’s no rush; take things slowly. There’s plenty of time for cultivators, and walking too quickly will make it easy to miss some of the scenery.”
“I want to deliver those water elixirs to Chen Ping’an as early as possible,” Zhang Shanfeng grumbled.
The old spiritual master nodded and performed some calculations. Mhm, they could indeed make haste regarding this matter.
Inside a ruin at the Golden Armor Continent, Liu Youzhou yawned as he watched the battle nearby. That young woman in white continued to throw punches, and by the looks of it, she had truly become addicted to this. Cao Ci didn’t counterattack, nor did he say anything. Instead, he continued to look at the haphazardly fallen deity statues.
From time to time, he would kneel and bow to the deity statues, clasp his hands in a prayer toward the statues, or simply bow toward the statues. Meanwhile, the young female with surging fist intent simply continued to throw punches. Liu Youzhou wasn’t a pure martial artist, but he felt like her attacks were becoming increasingly chaotic and disorderly, completely following her whim. She no longer unleashed her full power with each punch, either.
However, this seemingly made no difference to Cao Ci, and he continued to observe the deity statues no matter how he was attacked by her punches.
The young woman suddenly stopped, with the flesh on her fingers and the back of her hands already ground away to reveal bone.
“Am I still wrong?” she asked in a solemn voice.
Cao Ci turned around and replied with a smile, “Why do you say that? Are punches that fail to fell me wrong? If that’s the case, then does anyone in the world at the same age as me possess a correct fist technique?”
Cao Ci rarely spoke, but he surprisingly continued by saying, “There is no such thing as a wrong fist technique in the world. There are only martial artists who have practiced fist techniques incorrectly, as well as those who fail to attack with sufficient intent.”
The young woman gritted her teeth and corrected, “It’s not failing to fell you, it’s failing to hit you at all!”
Cao Ci replied with a nod.
He fell silent again.
Since this was the glaring reality, anyone who wasn’t blind would be able to see and understand it. It was very easy for Cao Ci to say some polite words, but to the young woman, what benefits did this yield?
If a pure martial artist who had ambitions of reaching the pinnacle couldn’t even accept a few truthful remarks, then how could their fist intent possibly rise up and eventually find solid footing at the pinnacle of the mountains?
Regarding this point, the person whom he had encountered at the Sword Qi Great Wall back then had done very well, willing to accept his fate. In reality, accepting one’s fate was for the sake of being able to eventually challenge fate one day in the future.
Cao Ci recalled something as he continued to walk forward, and he asked, “Do you remember how many punches you’ve thrown?”
“I didn’t pay attention to this,” the young woman replied with a shake of her head.
With his back facing her, Cao Ci suggested slowly, “Then focus on remembering this from this point onward. You don’t need to consider how you’re throwing punches, nor do you need to consider the release and retraction of your power. You simply need to count how many punches you’ve thrown.”
The young woman frowned and asked, “Cao Ci, why are you willing to provide me with guidance regarding fist techniques?”
Cao Ci gazed up at the sky and replied, “This can’t be viewed as guidance per se. It’s worthy of a few comments from me, so I’ve decided to make these comments to you. This isn’t anything special or remarkable. You can also do the same when you encounter other martial artists in the future, and you presumably will. The path of martial arts isn’t a narrow one where it’s kill or be killed. As for martial fortune, it’s even more the case that… Forget about it. It seems slightly inappropriate to discuss this with you.”
The young woman smiled bitterly and remarked, “That’s because you’re destined to never come across a person at the same age who can make you feel despair. That’s why you’re able to say this.”
Cao Ci nodded and said, “There’s no need for me to think about this.”
The young woman gritted her teeth in slight frustration and anger.
“True martial artists are pure in their focus, and they won’t display what’s perceived as the anger of common people all the time,” Cao Ci commented.
Liu Youzhou clicked his tongue in wonder. It was rare for Cao Ci to say so much in such a short period of time.
Perhaps this was the so-called pure focus that Cao Ci talked about.
One had to realize that after this young woman advanced to the Vajra Body Tier as the strongest sixth tier martial artist in the world, Cao Ci would have essentially gained a powerful new rival at the same level. At the very least, their cultivation bases would be the same.
As for the level of their fist techniques at that time?
The young woman was likely well aware that she would still feel complete and utter despair. She was so disheveled while fighting the seventh tier Cao Ci at the sixth tier herself, so how would she feel if she were still unable to touch him even after advancing to the seventh tier? Even Liu Youzhou would feel distressed for her at that time.
On a bustling street in a provincial city of the Heavenly World, a young and carefree Daoist priest was manning a stall by the roadside, claiming that his palm-reading skills were an exceptional ability passed down by his ancestors. There were many young women and mature ladies at his stall.
As for his junior brother, this city was his hometown, and he had chosen to travel at night in brocade robes after witnessing a tragic story that pertained to a cultivator seeking revenge. The young boy found someone at the same age who was like a brother, as well as a young girl with whom he had been friends from a young age.
The young Daoist priest recited a mantra in a mystical manner as he stroked a beautiful young lady’s smooth and supple hand, thinking about his junior brother as he did so. Would his junior brother forgive his good friend, whom he had initially viewed as an older brother? Would his junior brother plead with him to bring that young girl back to the White Jade Capital? This was another small story that wasn’t very joyful. The young Daoist priest was quite curious about what choices would be made. There was actually a large number of possible choices, and at the end of the day, everything was dependent on how his junior brother viewed the pursuit of Dao.
Lu Chen gently put down the dainty hand of the beautiful young lady and revealed to her some matters pertaining to her marriage.
He turned around and looked toward someplace, not feeling disappointed per se, but not feeling surprised or delighted either.
His junior brother was silently shedding tears as he held the corpse of someone the same age as him. Meanwhile, the young girl standing beside him was transfixed with shock as if she had been struck by lightning. In Lu Chen’s eyes, she appeared slightly innocent and adorable at this moment.
Killing one person meant crushing three hearts.
It was difficult to say whether this was a profitable transaction or an unprofitable one.
Lu Chen rested his cheek on one hand as he looked at the busy street, replying with a faint smile to a lady who had stopped to glance back at him from a distance.
The young lady most likely hadn’t expected the handsome Daoist priest to notice her gaze, hurriedly twisting her slender waist and lowering her head as she walked away in embarrassment.
One could never grow tired of the smiles of young ladies.
Lu Chen surmised that he would still enjoy the smiles of young ladies even after looking at them for another ten thousand years.
He sighed and concluded that his junior brother had done so-so. He had killed someone else and also “killed” himself, just barely passing this trial of the Dao Heart.
If this weren’t the case, then Lu Chen wouldn’t have minded throwing a palm strike and smashing his junior brother into a pile of crushed flesh and bone.
However, his junior brother’s performance was still a fair way off from his best expectations.
A person’s body was a small world, so when one cultivated the Great Dao, how could the two vast principles of heaven and earth and tranquility be so small?
The more Lu Chen thought about this, the more displeased he became. He angrily grabbed a bamboo slip from the tube and lightly snapped it in half.
His junior brother crumpled to the ground as if a flying sword had hacked him apart at the waist. He didn’t die; he was only half-dead.
His junior brother possessed three paramount immortal treasures of the White Jade Capital, after all, so how could he die so easily?
Another Lu Chen arrived beside his junior brother, who was still able to struggle even after being hacked into two, squatting down and encouraging with a smile, “Give it your all, Junior Brother, you can definitely survive if you manage to mend yourself together.”
As for the Lu Chen who was manning the fortune-telling stall by the roadside, he smiled widely and extended his hand toward the young girl who had already sat down, saying, “I’m exceptionally skilled at reading palms, and my accuracy in predicting marriages is so great that I’m essentially a sworn brother of the matchmaking deity.”
On the bank of a large river in the residence of the Southern Whirl Continent’s Pure Confucian Chen Clan, Liu Xianyang discovered for the first time that the old Confucian scholar was standing atop the waterside rock cliff earlier than he was.
After making his way up the rock cliff, Liu Xianyang bowed in respect and greeted the old man.
The two of them met often, with the old man saying that he was a teacher. The Pure Confucian Chen Clan had an academy, and many people sought knowledge here to begin with, with even more visiting during their travels. Thus, Liu Xianyang didn’t find it strange that many people didn’t recognize this old man.
Liu Xianyang discovered that the old scholar was a bit different today, not asking him about his progress in studies or whether he had any questions about the scriptures, as he normally would. The old scholar had once said that if one’s knowledge was shallow, it would be a bad idea for one to deviate from the scriptures. As one became more knowledgeable, it would also be inappropriate for one to rigidly follow the scriptures and be pointlessly pedantic about each phrase. The knowledge in the world needed to be gradually modified and improved, after all.
The old scholar stood on the rock cliff and gazed at the river, remaining silent for a long time before turning around and asking, “Liu Xianyang, what do you think about the Pure Confucian Chen Clan’s family culture and learning culture?”
Liu Xianyang was slightly surprised by this question. The old scholar had first posed this question to him during their first encounter, so he was unsure why the old scholar was asking him the same question again.
Liu Xianyang’s reply was pretty much the same as before. “Good.”
“Where is it good?” the old scholar asked.
“Good in the sense that it’s practical,” Liu Xianyang replied with a smile.
“Then it’s truly not bad,” the old scholar said with a nod.
“What was Old Mister thinking about before?” Liu Xianyang asked in a soft voice.
“Old people always think about the arrangements after their death,” the old scholar replied with a smile.
Liu Xianyang was rendered speechless.
“Young people shouldn’t be so dull and lifeless,” the old scholar remarked. “You need to be energetic and spirited, daring to point out the shortcomings and faults of the world, and daring to contemplate how you’ll use the knowledge in the books to better the world.”
“I’ll strive to achieve this,” Liu Xianyang replied with a nod.
“Looking at youths like yourself, old people like me can’t help but feel that there’s insufficient time to make use of. I still haven’t had enough of teaching yet.” The old scholar sighed with emotion.
Liu Xianyang also sighed in response.
The old scholar chuckled. “Don’t sigh — your fortune will run away.”
Liu Xianyang faltered upon hearing this. There existed such a notion?
The old scholar smiled and continued, “This was how the seniors in the clan scared me when I was little.”
Liu Xianyang found this quite amusing.
In his memory, Chen Ping’an would never sigh for no reason. Meanwhile, he and the snotty little kid would often lie under the tree shade in summer or on the field ridges at night, sighing at each other and not finding this boring. They would do this for fun. Back then, Chen Ping’an had always been the most unfortunate person. Now that he was a mountain master in their hometown, had his fortune finally taken a turn for the better?
————
On the tenth day of the tenth month, Chen Ping’an set sail on the talisman boat prepared by Paddling Island and made his way to the main island of the Dragon Palace Small World. Incense smoke filled the air, and even cultivators were burning paper afterlife garments, adhering to ancient etiquette as they offered clothes to their ancestors. Chen Ping’an was no exception, and he purchased many five-colored winter clothes crafted from paper by the Water Dragon Sect, bringing a brimming basket back to Paddling Island. He then wrote names on each of the garments, and he used the small and ordinary cauldron gifted to him by the shop to burn the garments and offer them to the deceased.
Chen Ping’an burned these paper garments the next day, which was the eleventh day of the tenth month. It was said that burning paper clothes shouldn’t be done on the day of the ghost festival, and it should instead be done on the day before or the day after. This wouldn’t disturb one’s ancestors, and it would also allow one’s ancestors and the other ghosts and deities to reap the most benefits.
There were some customs of the Water Dragon Sect that Chen Ping’an was quite familiar with. For example, they would also add new soil when paying respects at their ancestors’ tombs, identical to the practice at Chen Ping’an’s hometown. There were many other similarities, for example, men should kowtow but shouldn’t cry, while the reverse was true for women.
Chen Ping’an spent two entire hours burning the paper clothes.
Standing amid the sea of clouds, Water Official Li Yuan couldn’t help but feel a little dazed as he watched on. In fact, he almost failed to contain his urge to look at the names written on the large number of five-colored winter clothes.
Upon recalling Li Liu’s address of him as Mr. Chen, however, Li Yuan didn’t dare to stick his nose where it didn’t belong.
On the fifteenth day of the tenth month, the birthday of the Water Official Great Emperor, the Water Dragon Sect would host a grand gold edict ceremony, fasting and performing rituals to ward off misfortune and calamity for their ancestors, helping them accumulate fortune at the same time.
Compared to the expenditure for purchasing some five-colored winter clothes for the ghost festival, wanting to offer incense and lights during the gold edict ceremony would cost far more than just a few snowflake coins.
Chen Ping’an actively opened the formation of Paddling Island, upon which Li Yuan pretended that he had made his way over after noticing the change.
Chen Ping’an asked some detailed questions about the rules of the gold edict ceremony, eventually handing Li Yuan a notebook that was densely filled with names and personal information. He then handed the water official two grain rain coins.
Chen Ping’an asked Li Yuan to participate in the gold edict ceremony for him, where he could ask some mighty figures of the Water Dragon Sect to write the names in the notebook on those specially made talisman papers, helping these deceased individuals accumulate fortune for their future lives.
Li Yuan truly couldn’t help himself this time, and he asked, “Dare I ask, Mr. Chen, who these deceased individuals are?”
“I’m just doing my best to rectify some past mistakes. This is far from enough, but hopefully it’s not too late to have some positive impact,” Chen Ping’an replied.
Holding the notebook in his hand, Li Yuan nodded and said, “Rest assured, the heavens can detect this, and ghosts and deities can also share their senses. Don’t underestimate your earnest sincerity.”
And thus, Li Yuan went over to personally attend to this matter.
Chen Ping’an jumped onto the roof ridge, taking Sword Immortal with him and placing it horizontally across his knees. He sat by himself and looked around in a daze.
