Unsheathed

Chapter 420 (1): Unchanged

Chapter 420 (1): Unchanged

Chen Ping'an was extremely familiar with the road from the capital of the Great Sui Nation back to the Great Li Empire's Dragon Spring Prefecture.

Just like always, he tried his best to travel along small mountain paths with few other travelers. When there was no one around, he would walk forward using his hands while performing the Heaven and Earth Stance. He would also ask Zhu Lian to spar with him every day, with the hunchbacked old man initially suppressing his cultivation base to the sixth tier and gradually raising it to the peak stage of the seventh tier.

The sparring sessions became increasingly intense, and this caused Pei Qian to feel extremely anxious. If it weren't for her master's Dao robe, Golden Sweet Wine, just how much money would he need to spend on new clothes? The first time they sparred, Chen Ping'an had called a stop to the session halfway. As it turned out, a hole had appeared in his boots, so he was forced to take them off and spar barefoot with Zhu Lian.

After leaving the Great Sui Nation, Chen Ping'an changed into straw sandals again, causing Pei Qian to bend over with laughter. Afterward, Chen Ping'an made a pair of straw sandals for Pei Qian as well, and the tanned little girl was no longer able to laugh. The straw sandals were extremely sturdy, and they were actually more reliable than ordinary boots when it came to traversing mountains and crossing rivers. Even so, they were ultimately coarse and harsh on one's feet.

Fortunately, Chen Ping'an didn't insist on forcing Pei Qian to wear it the entire time. While Pei Qian used a needle to pop the blisters on the soles of her feet, Zhu Lian stood beside her and made fun of her the entire time. The old man and the little girl were used to making fun of each other every single day.

Chen Ping'an was sitting by a stream, and he removed his straw sandals and placed his feet in the water as his mind wandered far away.

He wasn't feeling nervous as he walked closer and closer to his home, but compared to his first distant journey, there were indeed many more things for him to worry about. There was his ancestral residence in Clay Vase Alley, the bamboo building on Downtrodden Mountain, the purchasing of mountains that he had discussed with Wei Bo, his two businesses in Dragon Riding Alley, the repair works of the clay Bodhisattvas and deities in the immortal tomb, and many other small matters.

There were many things that Chen Ping'an had never needed to think about before, yet he would often ponder on them now. As for what he did after visiting his hometown, he planned to travel to Bamboo Scroll Lake to visit Gu Can first. He would then head to the Colorful Garment Nation to visit that husband and wife as well as their old maidservant who was very good at cooking.

He definitely needed to visit Sword Saint Song Yushao in the Water Combing Nation as well, and he still owed this senior a meal of hotpot. Of course, Chen Ping'an also wanted to show off to the sword saint, saying that the girl whom he loved also loved him back. Things weren't as terrifying as Senior Song had made them out to be.

Chen Ping'an naturally felt a strong yearning for the scholarly aura of books and poems possessed by Cui Dongshan, Lu Tai, and even the Lion Garden's Liu Qingshan. However, Chen Ping'an wouldn't mindlessly try to get closer to them because of this.

This was called liking the new but not getting tired of the old. As a result, he was able to accumulate more and more wealth.

Chen Ping'an felt like this was a good habit, one that was just as good as his talent in coming up with names. This was one of the few skills that Chen Ping'an was quite proud of.

He suddenly turned around and said to Pei Qian, "When you travel around the cultivation world with Li Huai and the others in the future, you don't need to be too restrained and you shouldn't emulate my behavior either."

"I do actually want to emulate Master, but I'm not able to emulate Master even if I want to," Pei Qian replied with an embarrassed expression.

Zhu Lian smiled and quipped, "Pei Qian, let me compose a dictionary of flattery for you in the future. It will definitely become a best-seller in the cultivation world, and I'll make sure to split the profits evenly with you at that time."

"You can't go back on your word! We'll split the profits fifty-fifty in the future!" Pei Qian said with a serious expression.

Zhu Lian raised a hand and pointed at Pei Qian, sighing, "Ah, you've completely lost yourself to money already. This is a pit that you can never climb out of."

Pei Qian pretended to be Li Huai, swaying her head back and forth as she made a face and said, "I'm not listening, I can't hear you!"

Chen Ping'an gave a knowing smile and asked, "I heard Li Huai say that you guys have decided to go around and dig up treasures in the future?"

"Oh? What a divine couple! The two of you have made a secret pledge to be married at such a young age?" Zhu Lian remarked in amusement.

"Li Huai and I are friends from the cultivation world with similar interests," Pei Qian corrected with an angry expression. "There are no lovey-dovey feelings between us, so stop uttering inappropriate bullshit all the time, Old Cook!"

Pei Qian then immediately changed her expression and said to Chen Ping'an with a smile, "Master, you don't need to worry about me siding with outsiders in the future. I'm not like those women in the cultivation novels who become woozy after seeing a man. When Li Huai and I dig up valuable treasures, we've already agreed to split the profits evenly. When the time comes, I'll definitely place my profits in Master's pockets as well."

Chen Ping'an merely smiled and offered no response.

Afterward, they walked to a prefectural city of the Yellow Court Nation without a hitch. The prefectural city was located on the banks of the Imperial River, and back when Chen Ping'an had traveled here with Cui Dongshan, they had seen several sword cultivators dashing through the streets on their swords, causing absolute chaos. Chen Ping'an hadn't stepped forward to stop them, especially since he hadn't been powerful enough to deal with them at the time. Thus, he could only stand aside and watch on.

As the saying went, the smaller the place the more ferocious the demonic winds.

To say nothing of the Great Li Empire, Qi refiners seemingly didn't dare to act with such wanton disregard even in the Great Sui Nation or the capital of the Azure Phoenix Nation.

On the other hand, both official immortals and vagrant cultivators were extremely unrestrained in the large cities of the smaller vassal states. In fact, even ordinary commoners had no option but to count themselves unlucky if they were detrimentally affected by the cultivators. This was because they had no avenue to seek justice. The imperial court was unwilling to deal with these matters, as it was both troublesome and of little benefit. The local officials didn't dare to deal with these matters, while the indignant and chivalrous individuals were also incapable of dealing with these matters.

The reason why these fated opportunities had been so coveted was because they could advance to the Nascent Tier without any obstruction. In other words, obtaining one of these creatures was essentially the same as obtaining a subordinate whose combat power rivaled that of Unpolished Jade Tier cultivators.

In the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent where Upper Five Tier cultivators were extremely rare, which cultivator wouldn't want to obtain such a fated opportunity?

Moreover, once these flood dragonkind whose bloodlines were very close to that of True Dragons recognized a master, their soul would become linked with their master's and they would continue to nurture their master's physical body, formlessly allowing their master to obtain a powerful physique equivalent to that of Vajra Body Tier martial artists.

Chen Ping'an was just about to walk into an inn, but he suddenly turned around and looked at the street along with Zhu Lian.

A tall and aloof woman gracefully walked over, stopping in front of Chen Ping'an and the others before smiling faintly and saying fluently in the official dialect of the Great Li Empire, "Young Master Chen, my father is good friends with Wei Bo, the formal god of the Great Li Empire's Southern Mountain. He's assumed the position of deputy mountain master in Forest Deer Academy, and he once hosted Young Master Chen in the Yellow Court Nation.

"Before leaving the Yellow Court Nation, Father told me that I need to be a good host and shouldn't show any neglect if Young Master Chen ever travels through this place. Not long ago, I received a family letter from Cloud Drape Mountain, and I've thus waited here for quite a while already. If my prying has offended Young Master Chen, then I apologize and ask for your understanding. I hereby sincerely invite Young Master Chen to stay at my Purple Sun Residence for a few days."

"If I'm in a hurry to travel to my destination and turn down Senior's offer because of this, will that bring Senior any trouble?" Chen Ping'an asked.

The tall woman who was the daughter of the old flood dragon, Cheng Shuidong, and also the founding ancestor of the Purple Sun Residence smiled and replied, "Naturally not. However, I genuinely wish that Young Master Chen could stay at the Purple Sun Residence for one or two days. The scenery there is quite good, and there are also some specialties from the mountains that are fairly decent. If Young Master Chen turns down my offer, I won't be scolded or interrogated by my father and Mountain God Wei. If Young Master Chen is willing to generously accept my offer, however, I'll definitely gain some minor goodwill with my father and Mountain God Wei, both of whom are fair in reward and punishment."

Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying with a smile, "Alright, then I'll be in Senior's care for one or two days?"

The tall woman, also a remnant flood dragonkind from the ancient Shu Nation, retrieved a carved boat that was as small as a lady's finger. After tossing it to the ground, mist permeated into the surroundings as the small boat suddenly transformed into an exquisite louchuan that was three levels tall and filled with engraved railings and luxurious buildings. The louchuan could easily hold forty to fifty passengers. Fortunately, the tall woman had silently waved her arm when tossing the immortal treasure, dragging the passers-by on the street to the two sides of the street.

At the same time, she retrieved a stack of multi-colored talismans from her sleeve, and upon letting them go and allowing them to drift to the ground, the talismans immediately transformed into numerous lithe and beautiful young women. They were absolutely stunning, and it was difficult to reconcile the fact that they had only been a stack of talismans a brief moment ago.

Their movements were nimble, and they rapidly carried over a boarding plank from the louchuan.

The tall woman smiled and said, "Please follow me, Young Master."

Pei Qian was enthralled by what she saw, and felt like she also needed to obtain these two treasures in the future. She would obtain a louchuan and a stack of talisman humans even if she needed to sell many of her treasures! After all, this was far too impressive!

Chen Ping'an slapped the back of Pei Qian's head before leading her onto the boat with the tall woman.

Under the watchful gazes of everyone on the streets, the louchuan slowly ascended into the sky before sailing away in the wind, traveling extremely quickly as it covered several kilometers in the blink of an eye.

Chen Ping'an and his companions stood on the immortal ship owned by the old ancestor of the Purple Sun Residence, and beneath them was the Imperial River that stretched for almost five hundred kilometers.

Chen Ping'an stood in front of the railings with Pei Qian and gazed down at the sprawling mountains and rivers that looked much like a painting.

Chen Ping'an was involuntarily reminded of his hometown, as well as all of the prefectures, counties, towns, and marketplaces that he had visited on his journey back to the Dragon Spring Prefecture. He remembered all of the tall mountains and magnificent rivers that he had visited.

He was also reminded of the people from his hometown.

Among the classmates who had left the Jewel Small World together with Teacher Ma from the private school, Li Huai and Lin Shouyi had ultimately decided to travel to Mountain Cliff Academy with Chen Ping'an and Li Baoping.

Meanwhile, Dong Shuijing had chosen to remain in the small town, while Shi Chunjia had decided to move to the capital of the Great Li Empire with her clan.

In reality, Chen Ping'an's impression of them was also very good. Dong Shuijing was simple and honest, and most likely because of his background, Chen Ping'an had felt the greatest affinity with him in the past. Shi Chunjia always wore twin braids, and she was extremely lively and adorable and also looked very clever.

Chen Ping'an didn't feel like their choices were incorrect.

Deep down in his heart, Chen Ping'an hoped that his hometown would remain the same as always. Regardless of whether it was Dong Shuijing and Shi Chunjia who had chosen to stay behind or Liu Xianyang and Gu Can who had chosen to leave and go to a faraway place, Chen Ping'an hoped that they still remembered the mountains and rivers of their hometown.

Of course, Chen Ping'an still needed to take a detour on his way back home. He needed to pay a visit to that female ghost wearing a bright red wedding dress, the one who had a plaque with the golden characters "Beautiful Water Noble Wind" hung high upon the gate of her residence.

Some words had been suppressed in his mind back then, so it was now time to tell them to the female ghost.