Unsheathed
Chapter 482 (1): Another Zhu Lian

Chapter 482 (1): Another Zhu Lian

Pei Qian still wasn't feeling sleepy, but she was ordered to go to bed by Chen Ping'an. As Chen Ping'an passed by Cen Yuanji's courtyard, he could still hear the sounds of her working conscientiously on her fist techniques, and Zhu Lian was standing by the entrance, looking at Chen Ping'an with a wide smile.

The two of them walked along side by side. The men of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent's north were primarily quite tall on average, and they were renowned across the entire continent for their impressive physiques and mighty strength.

The Great Li Empire's standard issue armor and sabers were forged in the Cao Clan style and the Yuan Clan style, respectively, and they were renowned for their immense weight, only to be equipped by warriors of worthy stature and strength. As he developed into early adulthood, Chen Ping'an had grown a lot taller, while Zhu Lian was habitually hunched over, so their heights varied drastically.

Chen Ping'an was planning to send Zhu Lian to Bamboo Scroll Lake to deliver to Gu Can, Zeng Ye, and the others the grain rain coins required to organize the Liberation Rite of Water and Land and Heavenly Worship Ceremony, and Zhu Lian raised no objections to this.

Dong Shuijing was also going to be accompanying him on the journey, and they were going to part ways at Pond Water City, where Dong Shuijing would meet with Guan Yiran in secret. Both Zhu Lian and Dong Shuijing were very reliable people in Chen Ping'an's eyes, so he had no qualms about having the two of them travel together.

Chen Ping'an also revealed the state of the world to Zhu Lian, who didn't offer much of a reaction. He said that he had been nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, and that now that he had come to the Majestic World, he wasn't going to think about such grand and consequential matters. At this point, he was content to only carry out some trivial tasks like sweeping snow and mending tiles.

Upon entering the first floor of the bamboo building, Chen Ping'an invited Zhu Lian to take a seat while he began packing for his imminent journey. He was going to be boarding an intercontinental ship at the Ox Horn Mountain ferry station in two days, which would set off from Old Dragon City before traveling to the Northern Complete Reed Continent from there.

His destination was a landmark so renowned that he had even seen extensive mention of it in the immortal book from Stalactite Mountain. It was called Skeleton Shoal, and it was an ancient battleground situated in the southern region of the Northern Complete Reed Continent. The immortal sect that presided over the Skeleton Shoal was the Flax Robe Sect, a lower sect of a prominent sect on the Middle Earth Divine Continent.

There were a hundred thousand yin soldiers and yin generals being kept in the sect, but despite its close proximity to ghostly and yin entities, the sect had a stellar reputation, and its disciples took it upon themselves to subjugate all of the malicious ghosts and evil spirits wreaking havoc in the world of the living.

Furthermore, the inaugural leader of the sect, who had moved to the Skeleton Shoal from the Middle Earth Divine Continent with sixteen fellow sect members, had established a rule, which stipulated that sect disciples were not to ask for any compensation from those that they saved from the spirits that they subjugated.

This rule applied to all beneficiaries, whether they be wealthy and powerful officials or ordinary people, and anyone who broke this rule would have their bridge of immortality shattered before being cast out of the sect.

Hence, the cultivators of the Flax Robe Sect were also ardently referred to as the junior heavenly masters of the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

There were many righteous ghostly cultivators residing around the Flax Robe Sect, so Chen Ping'an wanted to spend some time there upon reaching the Skeleton Shoal. After all, he had always wanted to claim an island in Bamboo Scroll Lake solely for the purpose of establishing a sect where ghosts and spirits could cultivate.

Zhu Lian watched as Chen Ping'an pulled out the neatly folded Golden Sweet Wine, and he seemed to have rather conflicted about whether to take it to the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

Zhu Lian then took a glance at the folded fan that had been placed on the table by Chen Ping'an. It had been gifted to him by Cui Dongshan, so it had to have been an immortal treasure. With that in mind, he smiled as he said, "Golden Sweet Wine paired with that folded fan is just an exquisite combination as a beautiful woman and a polished mirror."

Chen Ping'an was seated at his desk, meticulously counting through his money, and he scoffed, "I'm traveling to the Northern Complete Reed Continent to hone my sword techniques, not for sightseeing. Everyone says that people on the Northern Complete Reed Continent often get into fights just because they don't like the look of one another. If I dare to travel the continent in such a get-up, I'd be asking for a beating!"

Zhu Lian smiled as he said, "No matter how chaotic a place is, there will be more than just senseless altercations waiting for you there. Even Bamboo Scroll Lake has a beautiful side to it, does it not? I think you should take Golden Sweet Wine with you. It doesn't take up much space anyway, and you never know when you might need it."

A thought then occurred to Zhu Lian, and he asked, "Alternatively, could it be that you've already decided who you're going to lend it to?"

Chen Ping'an nodded as he replied, "I want to get someone to deliver it to Liu Xianyang in the Pure Confucian Chen Clan on the Southern Whirl Continent."

"Are you going to do that through the Dragon Tail Creek Chen Clan?" Zhu Lian asked.

Chen Ping'an gently massaged a lesser heat coin between his fingers. The coin had been modeled after a yellow jade copper coin, and it had inscriptions on both sides.

Unlike the lesser heat coin that he had received from Wei Wei in that run-down monastery in the Water Combing Nation, which bore the inscriptions of "end of plum rain and beginning of scorching summer" and "thunder rumbling across heaven's peak," this one read "nine dragons spewing water" and "eight rays of divine light."

The inscriptions on lesser heat coins had always been extremely diverse, unlike snowflake coins, of which there was only one variety in circulation. Of course, this was what was impressive about the Liu Clan of the Pure White Continent. Lesser heat coins had many origins littered throughout the world. Hence, each type of lesser heat coin had a slightly different exchange rate for snowflake coins.

"Chen Dui was the one who had come to the Jewel Small World to examine the graves on behalf of the Pure Confucian Chen Clan. She had a rather foul temper and a sharp tongue, but her nature wasn't bad.

"The representative of the Dragon Tail Creek Chen Clan responsible for meeting with her was a scholar by the name of Chen Songfeng, and he is extremely close with a friend of mine by the name of Liu Baqiao. Chen Songfeng is a little timid, and he was lacking in confidence in the face of a woman of a higher status from the Southern Whirl Continent, but he is a man of genuine grace and kindness.

"I'm sure that the spotless reputation of a prominent clan that has been maintained for over a thousand years is more precious than a pseudo-celestial tool," Chen Ping'an said.

Zhu Lian didn't object to the idea of Chen Ping'an sending Golden Sweet Wine to Liu Xianyang, whether it be as a gift or only a temporary basis, but in his eyes, the timing was not right, so he made a rare display of standing his ground against Chen Ping'an as he said, "Young Master, while it's true that you're already a sixth tier martial artist, so you're only one step away from having Golden Sweet Wine become useless to you, perhaps even a hindrance, but that one step is certainly not negligible.

"Peril and opportunity will be sure to come hand in hand on your journey to the Northern Complete Reed Continent, and to put it bluntly, if you encounter a formidable swordsman in battle, at the very least, you can use Golden Sweet Wine as a suit of Dew Armor to save yourself from a few otherwise lethal blows. The next time you return to Downtrodden Mountain, whether that be in three years, five years, or even ten, it still won't be too late for you to send Golden Sweet Wine to Liu Xianyang.

"After all, as long as one isn't a pure martial artist, even if one is at the Golden Core Tier, the Nascent Tier, or even the Unpolished Jade Tier, Golden Sweet Wine would still be useful to them."

Chen Ping'an nodded in response and stowed Golden Sweet Wine into Fifteenth.

"Seeing as Cui Dongshan has already said that we have fifty years to work with, and you also agree with this assessment, why have you suddenly changed your mind and wavered in your conviction? That's not like you, Young Master," Zhu Lian said.

Chen Ping'an stared at the lamp on his desk for a moment, then suddenly smiled as he proposed, "Would you care to join me for some wine and a chat?"

"Of course! I'm always eager for a drink," Zhu Lian replied as he rubbed his hands together.

Chen Ping'an pulled out two flagons of osmanthus wine, then moved some of the items on the desk out of the way as Zhu Lian sat down across from him.

Chen Ping'an told Zhu Lian about the reconstruction of his bridge of immortality, as well as the obstacles and strokes of fortune that he encountered along the way, sparing no detail in his retelling of events.

He told Zhu Lian about the shattering of his bonded porcelain as a child, his tug of war against Branch Master Lu Chen, the three hundred years that he witnessed in the river of time in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, and even the "holes" pierced into his mental state from witnessing the awesome might of Wei Jin and Zuo You's sword techniques.

He also spoke about how his tortuous stay in Bamboo Scroll Lake and how his reasoning and principles had completely failed there. He spoke about why he had to shatter his own scholarly core and the ghastly howls that rang out both within and outside of his heart...

This concerned the foundation of his Great Dao, so it should've been taboo to reveal this information. In fact, information of this nature was so sensitive that even many Dao partners were unwilling to divulge these matters to one another.

However, Chen Ping'an seemed to have no qualms speaking about this, so Zhu Lian had no qualms listening, occasionally taking a sip of wine as he did so.

Chen Ping'an bent down and pulled out a small clay pot from the drawer, out of which he gently tipped a small pile of porcelain fragments. As opposed to tipping them out directly onto the table, he first tipped them out onto his hand, and only after that did he gently set them down onto the table.

"These are the fragments of my bonded porcelain that was smashed by my father. Not long after that, my mother passed away. Back when I received them, I was completely dumbstruck and overcome with sadness, and I didn't stop to think about how they had ended up in my hands."

Chen Ping'an picked up one of the shards with a dark expression as he said, "This was what I used to kill Cai Jinjian of Dawn Cloud Mountain in that alley prior to leaving the Jewel Small World. If I had failed back then, then I wouldn't be sitting here today.

“All my life, I've constantly been struggling. Prior to becoming an apprentice at the dragon kiln, I had to struggle to survive. After becoming Old Man Yao's student, I at least no longer had to worry about starving or freezing to death, so I began to struggle to find my place in the world. Never did I think that I would have to leave the small town, and from there onward, I began to ponder how I should live.

“After leaving the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, I began to think about how best to live and what is the most correct way to live... There have been many crossroads that have appeared in my life, and I've gone down many unnecessarily long and roundabout paths, but sometimes, there are benefits to being naive and ignorant.

“Whenever I encountered someone that I respected from the bottom of my heart and saw where they stood, I would become very curious about how they had managed to reach those places, and from there, things became simple for me. I would settle on a general direction and strive toward that direction with single-minded determination.

“I would often think about my parents, Mr. Qi, A'Liang, and I would think about what they would do in certain situations. From there, I've constantly been learning, trying to take everything that I saw that was good in others before making it my own, just like a thief. I'm terrified of losing things that are important to me, so I do everything in my power to keep the things that I cherish. It's not that I don't care about money, and I certainly wasn't a walking charity from birth.

“To me, having nothing but hardships to keep me company is just another day in my life, so I'm not afraid of that at all. Even if I were to suddenly lose all of my mountains, my wealth, and my cultivation base and be forced back to my ancestral residence on Clay Vase Alley, that would still not have much of an impact on me. I've stolen and learned a lot from you.

“Additionally, I've also done the same with Senior Song of the Sword Water Villa, Fan Er of Old Dragon City, Liu Youzhou of the Ape Havoc Estate, Cao Ci of the Sword Qi Great Wall, Lu Tai, and even the likes of Imperial Preceptor Zhong Qiu of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, Zhou Fei of the Spring Tide Palace, Noble Scholar Zhong Kui of Peace and Tranquility Mountain, Liu Laocheng, Liu Zhimao, Zhang Ye...

“I've been observing all of you, and I greatly envy all of the most outstanding traits that I see in all of you. Through assessing my mindset, Senior Cui was able to identify the crux of the problem. There is nothing in this world that can solely net one benefit at no cost. Ultimately, this was always bound to catch up to me at some point.

“Living life is not like practicing fist techniques. As long as I train diligently, I can attain and hone my fist intent. However, if I'm constantly taking things from other people in my life, then I'm very prone to doing many things that I don't truly understand the reason for. My mental state is very scattered to begin with in light of my shattered bonded porcelain, and right now, it's like a nation that's been fractured into many vassal states.

“If it wasn't for the fact that I've managed to just barely establish a hierarchy, the problems would only be more severe. If I didn't aspire to become a sword immortal, then things would actually be fine. For pure martial artists, such problems would not hinder their rise to the top. However, for Qi refiners, reaching the Middle Five Tiers is one hurdle, as is reaching the Golden Core Tier, and reaching the Nascent Tier is an even greater hurdle.

“It's always said that for impoverished families, winters are very difficult to endure, but ultimately, they can always make do and get by somehow, but that's not the case when it comes to the cultivation of the heart, where compromising and scraping by will only lead to trouble further down the line. I've never felt like this is just me overthinking things.

“I continue to firmly believe that brute force can grant one victory once, but reason and principles are the key to consistent victories over time. Of course, both are indispensable. There is no sense in expecting someone to turn to reason and principles only after they've become powerful. In fact, it's often the case that those who ascend to lofty positions by unreasonable means will only become more unreasonable in the future.

“In the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, the old abbot was constantly scheming, while I was observing in silence the entire time I was with him. I wanted to see the outcomes of three things, but I wasn't able to do that in the end. Two of those things were skipped, while the final one was cut off, following which I left the river of time to return to the Lotus Flower Blessed Land.

“That one thing concerned an extremely bright scholar in the history of the Pine Stream Nation. He was a Jin Shi, and he harbored lofty aspirations, but he found it extremely wearisome having to deal with the matters of the officialdom, so he decided to change himself and learn the rules of the officialdom, then fulfill his aspirations of serving the people once he reached a lofty position.

“I really want to know if he managed to fulfill this goal in the end, or if he gave up."

Chen Ping'an rose to his feet as he spoke, and he began to pacing back and forth behind his desk with his flagon of barely drunk wine in his hand as he continued, "There are many principles that I know to be very good, and there are many things that I clearly know to be right or wrong. Even if I only look at the outcome, everything that I did turned out to be not bad.

“However, during the process, I had to suffer extensively, having to constantly deal with immense internal conflict. For example, back in Bamboo Scroll Lake, I had to decide whether to kill Gu Can, whether to become allies with Liu Zhimao, whether to submit to Liu Laocheng... How was I supposed to address my enemies once I attained more power?

“Should I continue to forge ahead without caring about anything else as I had done in the past, or should I take a step back and make some changes to my past ways? Even if I do make changes, and my actions result in favorable outcomes and abide by the correct principles, will that truly make me feel satisfied and fulfilled?"

Chen Ping'an shook his head as he concluded in a firm voice, "I don't think so."

There was a moment of silence.