Unsheathed

Chapter 424 (1): Riding Atop a Sword Into the Sea of Clouds

Chapter 424 (1): Riding Atop a Sword Into the Sea of Clouds

Dawn arrived, and Chen Ping'an and the others finished packing their luggage and prepared to leave the Purple Sun Residence.

Sect Master Huang Chu and two elderly Dragon Gate Tier immortals personally saw them off, accompanying them all the way to the bank of the Iron Plate River. The river god of the incense temple had already prepared an immortal ship for them, and they needed to travel downstream for fifty or so kilometers before disembarking at a ferry station and continuing their journey to the border of the Yellow Court Nation.

Chen Ping'an expressed his gratitude to Huang Chu, after which Huang Chu retrieved a newly crafted sandalwood box — one that adopted the style of renowned study room antiques in the Yellow Court Nation — saying that it was a small gift from the old ancestor.

Pei Qian had a stern expression, pretending that she didn't care about this at all.

Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment before eventually deciding to accept the small box that contained four valuable treasures from the Purple Qi Palace, saying, "Sect Master Huang Chu, you definitely need to visit Downtrodden Mountain if you go to the Dragon Spring Prefecture in the future."

Afterward, Chen Ping'an raised the box of valuables and joked, "I won't have any valuable gifts for you, nor will I have Old Flood Dragon Yearning Wine like those served in the banquet at the Vast Snow Hall. I'll only have some home-style cooking to offer you. Perhaps Sect Master Huang Chu won't want to say hi to me even if he visits the Dragon Spring Prefecture."

Huang Chu smiled faintly and replied, "If I have the opportunity to visit the Great Li Empire, I'll definitely find a chance to visit Young Master Chen even if I don't visit the Dragon Spring Prefecture."

They happily chatted with each other, and Huang Chu accompanied Chen Ping'an and the others all the way to the immortal ship docked at the bank. Huang Chu initially wanted to board the immortal ship and accompany them all the way to the ferry station, yet Chen Ping'an insisted again and again that this wouldn't be necessary. Only then did Huang Chu give up on the matter.

Chen Ping'an walked to the bow of the immortal ship after boarding, and the Sword Nurturing Gourd by his waist was filled with Old Flood Dragon Yearning Wine as the ship slowly sailed downstream. This was a wine brimming with spiritual energy. Chen Ping'an cupped his fists in the direction of the Purple Qi Palace.

Standing on the top floor of the Purple Qi Palace was a tall and slender woman who had activated an illusion technique. She was none other than the Cave Spirit True Lord Wu Yi, and after seeing Chen Ping'an's gesture, she smiled and remarked, "Inviting him was easy, and sending him off wasn't too difficult either."

She was in a fairly good mood.

Wu Yi had already recorded the events of the past two days — no matter how major or minor the event — and reported them to her father by sending a flying sword to the Dragon Spring Prefecture's Cloud Drape Mountain.

She believed that even if she wasn't praised and rewarded, she would at least be able to escape criticism and punishment.

The immortal ship slowly sailed away, becoming as small as a speck of sand in Wu Yi's eyes.

However, her body suddenly tensed up at this moment, and she didn't dare to move a single muscle.

At some unknown time, a refined elder in Confucian robes had already materialized beside her, easily breaking through the defensive formations of the Purple Sun Residence to silently arrive at the top floor of the Purple Qi Palace.

Wu Yi composed herself and said in a quiet voice, "This unfilial daughter greets her father."

Cheng Shuidong pondered for a moment before coming to his senses and saying to Wu Yi with a smile, "There's nothing interesting to look at."

Wu Yi naturally didn't dare to dig any deeper.

"Do you know why all of the sentient beings in the world strive so hard to achieve human form?" the old man asked. "The human body is clearly so weak, needing to ingest food and liquid for the sake of survival. This is also an obstruction to cultivation, hence the reason why Qi refiners talk about abstaining from food to prevent the stench from detrimentally affecting their mind, soul, and Qi. In fact, the act of eating and drinking prevents one from reverting their old age and returning to a nascent stage.

"On the other hand, flood dragons like us are uniquely blessed by the heavens, possessing not only a powerful physique, but also possessing intelligence that can rival the humans. That being the case, why are we standing here in human form?"

Wu Yi was slightly confused, so she didn't dare to say anything in response. This pertained to the acupoints of humans, and it pertained to the small world and blessed land that a human body represented. This was common knowledge to all cultivators in the mountains and all spirits and ghosts in the mountains. However, her father definitely wouldn't speak nonsense to her, so what was the profound meaning behind his statement?

Cheng Shuidong didn't make things too difficult for Wu Yi, one of his few remaining children in the world, and he revealed, "The profound meaning is contained within a single word: returning."

He raised a finger and drew a circle in the air.

Wu Yi fell deep into thought.

Cheng Shuidong smiled and said, "You're still young, and your experience in this world is still lacking. To say nothing of the situation three thousand years ago, where would you go to seek an answer about the situation ten thousand years ago if I don't give you the answer?"

Wu Yi's expression immediately became solemn. She knew that her father was giving her a Dao attainment catalyst!

She had already been stuck at the Golden Core Tier for three hundred or so years, and the heretical cultivation technique that could allow Qi refiners to advance to the Nascent Tier didn't make things any easier for her. As a descendant of flood dragons, she faced many obstacles and challenges when cultivating this technique. She had finally advanced to the peak stage of the Golden Core Tier after much struggle, yet she had remained at this level for more than one hundred years, unable to break through to the next tier no matter what she did. This caused her to feel a sense of despair.

Cheng Shuidong looked up at the sky and asked, "Are you not curious about where all of the mortal humans belonging to the Three Teachings, the Hundred Schools of Thought, and the three worlds have come from? Why did they come here? And how did they ultimately manage to become the owners of the world? Mhm, there are many nonsensical rumors regarding the last question, with some of them completely wrong and some of them containing many truths. Perhaps you've gained a rough understanding of some secrets as well."

Wu Yi nodded in response.

Three thousand years ago, the last True Dragon in the world had fled from the Middle Earth Divine Continent and relied on its innate mystical powers — powers that allowed it to control the water fortune of the world — to escape to the southernmost region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. It had climbed ashore at Old Dragon City, yet its severe wounds meant that it was forced to crash into the ground and forcefully carve out a deep dragon channel.

Afterward, a powerful cultivator had used a vanquishing technique — one that was already long lost nowadays— to suppress the True Dragon, forcing it to come out from underground. In the end, the True Dragon that was already on the verge of death had collapsed and died near the region where the Jewel Small World would later be formed. Following its death, another powerful cultivator had used a mystical ability to forge the Jewel Small World, making it appear like a bright jewel that hung high above the Great Li Empire.

Cheng Shuidong sighed and lamented, "Your comprehension ability is truly pathetic."

Wu Yi felt slightly aggrieved.