Unsheathed - Chapter 539 (2): Chance Encounter, Silent Departure
Chapter 539 (2): Chance Encounter, Silent Departure
After that encounter, Qi Jinglong became even more confident in his ability to handle romantic affairs.
“Are there any really pretty girls in your Great Emblem Sword Sect?” Bai Shou asked. “I’m talking about girls around my age.”
“Why do you ask that?” Qi Jinglong asked.
“I just feel sorry for them. It’s tragic that all of them are going to fall in love with me when I won’t reciprocate their feelings,” Bai Shou sighed.
“Who taught you to say things like that?” Qi Jinglong chuckled.
“Chen Haoren!” Bai Shou replied without any hesitation.
Qi Jinglong immediately dismissed the possibility, but then felt a little unsure of himself. Chen Ping’an was willing to do and say just about anything to convince others to drink wine. It was as if all of his morality instantly went out the window in the pursuit of spreading the joy of wine to others.
With that in mind, he asked in an uncertain manner, “Did he really say that to you?”
Bai Shou immediately began to embellish the story, making up a bunch of things that Chen Ping’an had supposedly told him.
Qi Jinglong merely gave an amused smile in response. Clearly, Bai Shou had been lying, after all.
Bai Shou was a little confused, wondering how Liu Jinglong had seen through his ruse.
Qi Jinglong cast his gaze into the distance as he said, “I’m going to take you to see two important mentors. Make sure to speak as little as possible and listen as much as you can.”
Bai Shou immediately slapped a hand to his forehead. He was not at all looking forward to meeting these two mentors.
Meanwhile, two cultivators were standing side by side atop a sea of golden clouds.
One of them was a tall middle-aged man wearing a Confucian academy robe with a jade tablet hanging from his waist, while the other was a hunch-backed old man carrying a longsword on his back.
The former was an academy sage, namely the current most renowned academy sage on the Northern Complete Reed Continent, and his name was Zhou Mi. He had come from the Middle Earth Divine Continent’s School of Rites, and it was said that the mountain master of the school had bestowed upon him the words “curb your temper.”
He was the same sage who had beaten those two insolent cultivators of the Upper Five Tiers into submission even after leaving the academy, and for that, he had earned himself a reputation as somewhat an ill-tempered ruffian among academy sages.
However, Qi Jinglong knew that this academy sage was an extremely wise and well-learned man. Furthermore, he was very open-minded. In addition to the teachings of Confucianism, he was also very knowledgeable in Buddhism, and he had once earned the high praise of possessing a watertight, all-encompassing base of knowledge, as well as a mild and respectful temperament.
No one disputed the first half of this piece of praise, but the second half proved to be very controversial. This was a man who had been given the words “curb your temper” on the cusp of traveling to another continent to become an academy sage. Was it really supposed to be believable even in the slightest that he possessed a mild and respectful temperament?
However, that was the piece of praise that Zhou Mi himself was most proud of, and he never acknowledged the first piece of praise regarding his base of knowledge.
The old sword-bearing cultivator with Zhou Mi was Dong Zhu, an Unpolished Jade Tier swordsman who had fallen from the Immortal Tier. Even back when he was at the height of his powers at the Immortal Tier, he never founded a sect of his own, choosing instead to maintain his status as a vagrant cultivator.
He had been plagued by lingering severe injuries for more than the past century, so he had to rest and recuperate in his own mountain. Otherwise, every outing that he made was sure to entail a great deal of suffering, and that was why he hadn’t traveled to Stalactite Mountain.
There were rumors proclaiming that Dong Zhu was the Dao mentor of the vagrant cultivator, Huang Xi, but both of them had denied these rumors. Furthermore, Huang Xi wasn’t even a swordsman, so the majority of sects were also of the opinion that this was nothing more than a tall tale.
Prior to facing Huang Xi in battle, Qi Jinglong had also been of the same opinion, but after their battle, he wasn’t so sure anymore.
As it turned out, Huang Xi actually was a swordsman, and he possessed two bonded flying swords.
Huang Xi had only been willing to expose his status as a swordsman instead of fleeing from the battle because his opponent had been Liu Jinglong, and sure enough, his trust was not misplaced; Qi Jinglong hadn’t revealed Huang Xi’s secret to anyone, even after all these years.
Qi Jinglong descended before the two seniors with Bai Shou, then extended a respectful bow to both of them.
Dong Zhu wasn’t a fan of Qi Jinglong’s mannerisms. Here was a young swordsman with hopes of reaching the pinnacle of the continent, why did he insist on learning from those intellectuals and scholars?
If it weren’t for the fact that Zhou Mi had noticed Qi Jinglong nearby and insisted on having a conversation with him, Dong Zhu wouldn’t have spared even a second glance at him.
If he wanted to meet Qi Jinglong, then he would’ve waited until the latter reached the Unpolished Jade Tier before traveling to the Great Emblem Sword Sect to challenge him.
Bai Shou detested these pedantic formalities, where everyone had to exchange salutes and bows back and forth, so he hid behind Qi Jinglong and did his best statue impression. He didn’t know these people, and these people didn’t know him, so what was the point in exchanging greetings?
Qi Jinglong didn’t force Bai Shou to do anything against his will.
Everything could wait until they reached the Great Emblem Sword Sect.
At first glance, Zhou Mi appeared no different from the average schoolteacher, and there wasn’t really anything remarkable about his physical appearance.
He wasted no time with small talk, cutting straight to the chase as he said, “Right now, the two sword immortals of the Great Emblem Sword Sect are both away, and you’re about to make a breakthrough, at which point you’ll be challenged by three people.
“Would you like me to be present to oversee the proceedings? That way, if any of those three harbor any ulterior motives against you and the Great Emblem Sword Sect while the two sword immortals are away, they’ll think twice before they get up to no good.”
Qi Jinglong extended another respectful bow, then smiled as he replied, “There’s no need for that, Mountain Master Zhou. I’ll handle them on my own. Even if those seniors do harbor ulterior motives, I would still have no one to blame if they manage to beat me fair and square.”
“What do you think, Old Man Dong?” Zhou Mi asked with a smile.
“Count me in as one of the three,” Dong Zhu grinned. “Li Cai of Duckweed Sword Lake will take the second spot. The final one is the most dangerous.”
Dong Zhu then turned to Qi Jinglong as he continued, “Don’t thank me! I’m not going to hold back at all when the time comes, even if you cry and beg for mercy!”
“Alright, in that case, I will oblige with your request and refrain from thanking you,” Qi Jinglong replied with a nod.
Zhou Mi was rather amused to hear this, while Dong Zhu rubbed his own chin as he harrumphed, “I’m really itching to beat you right now.”
“Please allow me to make my breakthrough first,” Qi Jinglong said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Bai Shou was praying to the heavens that the old man would follow through on his threat and give Liu Jinglong the beating that he deserved.
“Why’ve you taken this boy as your disciple?” Zhou Mi asked with a smile.
“He’s not a bad kid at heart,” Qi Jinglong said. “The more difficult he is to mentor, the more he requires a good mentor.”
“That sounds logical,” Zhou Mi agreed.
Bai Shou heaved a bored sigh, and Dong Zhu was also feeling as if he were about to fall asleep.
It seemed that the two of them would’ve gotten along very well with each other had one of them struck up a conversation with the other.
“I came to see you on this occasion solely to ask you if my presence was required during your breakthrough. Seeing as my assistance is not required, I can be spared a trip to the Great Emblem Sword Sect,” Zhou Mi said.
Qi Jinglong hesitated momentarily, then asked, “Mountain Master Zhou, can I ask about the outcome of a certain event?”
“You’re interested in this as well?” Zhou Mi asked with a smile. “Do you have some ties with one or both of the two involved?”
Qi Jinglong thought of the guy that had taken three punches from Gu You, and he smiled as he replied, “Kind of.”
“Let’s walk as we talk,” Zhou Mi said. “While we’re at it, we can discuss our recent readings to piss off Old Man Dong. If we can do that, then this trip of mine won’t have been a complete waste.”
Dong Zhu could only roll his eyes in exasperation.
He had no interest in engaging in an intellectual discussion with Zhou Mi and Qi Jinglong, so he turned his attention to Bai Shou, taking a glance at him from out of the corner of his eye.
Bai Shou looked back at him in the exact same manner.
“What’re you looking at me like that for, you little runt?” Dong Zhu snapped. “Haven’t you ever heard of the Great Sword Immortal Dong before?”
Bai Shou didn’t back down, glowering at Dong Zhu as he countered, “So what if I have, and so what if I haven’t? You’re not my father, so I’ll look at you any way that I want!”
“You’re certainly a brave little shit! You need to be taught a lesson in respect!” Dong Zhu scoffed.
“Why don’t you come challenge me after I’ve reached the Upper Five Tiers?” Bai Shou provoked. “We’ll see which one of us actually needs to learn a lesson in respect then!”
Dong Zhu slapped Bai Shou on the head, sending him face-planting straight into the ground as he chortled, “Who taught you to speak like that? Was it your master, Liu Jinglong?”
Bai Shou clambered to his feet, but didn’t try to physically retaliate against Dong Zhu. He was no idiot, and he knew that a smart man had to pick his fights.
“Liu Jinglong isn’t my master!” Bai Shou harrumphed coldly. “I’ve only ever had one master, and he’s the only master I’ll ever accept! However, I have a drinking buddy called Chen Haoren. If you have the guts, then go pick on him! He’ll have you running for your life and crying for your mother with just a single swing of his sword!”
“Bai Shou!” Qi Jinglong snapped in a stern voice with tightly furrowed brows.
Bai Shou immediately backed down, conceding in a sheepish manner, “Alright, I’ll admit that Chen Haoren is still no match for you for now.”
————
On the ship, Chen Ping’an had already stowed away the newspapers he had received from the shopkeeper of the teahouse. He had hoped to find out the outcome of the battle that had taken place near the capital of the Great Seal Script Empire, but there had been no mention of the battle at all in any of the latest newspapers.
Up to this point, it remained unclear who had come out on top in the final showdown between Gu You and Ji Yue.
Chen Ping’an had previously discussed this matter with Qi Jinglong, and the latter had told him that Gu You had always been a very cautious man, so he definitely wasn’t going into this battle on an impulsive whim, nor was it his intention to throw his life away.
Chen Ping’an stood at the railing of the ship, flipping through the newspapers. It wasn’t a complete waste of time. For example, he had learned from one of the newspapers that a battle of life and death was set to take place on Temper Mountain at noon in ten days, and the two combatants were both very renowned figures. One of them was the vagrant cultivator, Huang Xi, and his opponent was the female martial artist, Xiu Niang.
Both of them were among the Northern Complete Reed Continent’s top ten young prodigies, and one was ranked fourth, while the other ranked fifth. There were two different stories in two separate newspapers pertaining to the reason for this battle.
One claimed that Huang Xi had made a return to the cultivation world and had encountered Xiu Niang by chance, while the other account proclaimed that the two of them had battled it out for a powerful immortal treasure in a broken small world. In the end, no decisive outcome was reached, so they agreed to a rematch on Temper Mountain.
This was a highly anticipated battle that was sure to attract the attention of many cultivators of the Upper Five Tiers.
It was entirely possible to imagine that the mountain near Temper Mountain that had been purchased by the Jade Forest Sect, the one that had since had many immortal abodes constructed upon it, had to have been absolutely packed with people.
While visiting the shop on the Flax Robe Sect’s intercontinental ship, Chen Ping’an had purchased an enchanted spirit tool that was connected to Temper Mountain. It was a porcelain brush washer that gave off a vibrant gleam, and as opposed to purchasing it in the traditional sense, Chen Ping’an had actually put it on Cloud Drape Mountain’s tab.
There were several stories pertaining to the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent on the newspapers, and the stories had been given rather large columns on the newspapers.
This was a clear indication that what was once the insignificant Eastern Treasured Vial Continent that everyone had looked down on had since gained much more relevance in the Majestic World, and this change in perception had come in the wake of the Great Li Empire’s march from the northernmost point of the continent all the way down to the southernmost Old Dragon City.
The true master of the Great Li Empire’s military forces was Song Changjing, while Heavenly Lord Xie Shi and Sword Immortal Wei Jin had also made incredibly important contributions in the Great Li Empire’s dominant southward expansion.
After them came Ma Kuxuan of True Martial Mountain, who managed to slay two mighty Golden Core Tier swordsmen of the Luminous Vermilion Empire in the short span of just half a year. He had already been rated as the top young cultivator of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent by the newspapers of the Northern Complete Reed Continent.
Additionally, he had also singlehandedly laid waste to the Sea Tide Cavalry, utterly humiliating the clan that had made an enemy out of him. One of the clan’s members, a young female cultivator, was fortunate enough to have survived, and she had become Ma Kuxuan’s personal maidservant.
The chief writer of one of the newspapers had made it abundantly clear that in their opinion, an incredible prodigy like Ma Kuxuan should’ve never been born on the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. They proclaimed that the best path for Ma Kuxuan to follow was to tread in He Xiaoliang’s footsteps, taking up permanent residence in the Northern Complete Reed Continent before establishing his own sect here.
According to the writer, Ma Kuxuan was destined to be a mighty flood dragon capable of churning up rivers and seas, and it was a terrible waste of talent to keep him confined in the small pond that was the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.
The writer also declared that he was about to make a list of the top ten young cultivators of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, and that once he did, he would compare them with the new top ten young cultivators of the Northern Complete Reed Continent.
The newspapers of the Northern Complete Reed Continent still carried a tone of belittlement and condescension toward the cultivators of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, but the fact that they had even begun reporting on the affairs of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent was already a sign of their shifting attitude.
There was also a story reporting on the breakthrough made by Northern Mountain God Wei Bo. Phenomena of fortune and prosperity were appearing incessantly throughout his territory, heralding his ascension to the Upper Five Tiers, and this was a clear indication of the thriving fortune of the Great Li Empire.
The newspapers also encouraged the businesspeople of the Northern Complete Reed Continent to place their bets early on the Great Li Empire, and that anyone that was late to the party could miss out on some significant profits.
On this subject, some praise was given to Sect Leader Zhu Quan of the Flax Robe Sect as according to certain sources, Wood Garment Mountain had clearly already made a move earlier than just about anyone else, connecting its intercontinental ships to the Northern Mountain of the Great Li Empire.
There was another story about the Jade Tablet Sect’s decision to establish its lower sect in Bamboo Scroll Lake, and the story was reported on in extensive detail.
Through the words printed on the newspaper, Chen Ping’an could also see the writer’s seething resentment.
The inaugural leader of the True Realm Sect was Jiang Shangzhen, someone who didn’t possess a particularly lofty cultivation base, but was a troublemaker that the Northern Complete Reed Continent couldn’t do anything about.
He had singlehandedly ruined three of the past ten finest celestial maidens of the Northern Complete Reed Continent, and it was rumored that two other female cultivators renowned far and wide for their beauty had also had entanglements with Jiang Shangzhen, but those stories were much more vague and unclear.
Hence, at the end of the story, the writer employed extremely inflammatory language against the military and the new emperor of the Great Li Empire, proclaiming that they were all incompetent shit-eaters for simply allowing the True Realm Sect to establish itself in the strategically vital central region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. If the Song Clan had some secret dealings with Jiang Shangzhen, then they would be even more deplorable!
Out of all of the collaborators they could’ve chosen, why would they choose to work with Jiang Shangzhen? If that were truly the case, then the imperial preceptor of the Great Li Empire and Jiang Shangzhen were clearly cut from the same cloth, which was really no surprise, considering the former had already betrayed his master.
According to the writer, someone so unscrupulous in his dealings was bound to be punished by the heavens, and he may have been fortunate enough to have orchestrated the unification of an entire continent, but it was all bound to fall apart soon.
Everywhere else, the newspapers employed neutral and careful verbiage, supporting its statements with evidence and sound logic, but whenever the True Realm Sect and Jiang Shangzhen came up, it was as if the writers were simply unable to help themselves, feeling compelled by some type of irresistible force to resort to petty insults and ad hominem attacks.
Chen Ping’an was actually very curious about the sources of these immortal newspapers.
Back in Bamboo Scroll Lake, he had only learned some surface-level information, and even earlier than that, when he was in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, there had been a mysterious and enigmatic Reverence Pagoda responsible for gathering the secrets of the cultivation world.
After returning to his cabin on the ship, Chen Ping’an pulled out a booklet written by the ship, one that contained information on all of the noteworthy attractions the ship would pass by en route to its destination.
After setting off from the Peach Blossom Ferry Station, the first scenic location of note was an immortal sect on the border of the Celestial Water Nation by the name of Cloudtop City. While traveling on the Flowing Dawn Continent, the founder of Cloudtop City had obtained a half-refined sea of clouds from a broken blessed land.
Initially, it was only around five kilometers in diameter, but after he established his sect on the border of the Celestial Water Nation, where there was an abundance of water fortune, the sea of clouds had been gradually bolstered over time through generations upon generations of diligent refinement. Additionally, it had also been fortified using talismans, and up to this point, its diameter had already expanded to close to twenty kilometers.
