Unsheathed

Chapter 354 (1): Imminent Carnage

It was a very stormy day; Duke Gao Shizhen was standing at the foot of a mountain, and he turned down the umbrella offered to him by his servant, choosing to stand under the rain.

In the wake of the recent events, concepts like patriotic loyalty and working for the greater good were no longer worth even a single copper coin in his eyes. Gao Shuyi was his only son, and he was now dead. He had painstakingly nurtured this only son of his for close to the past three decades, and even as his father, Gao Shizhen wasn't able to pick out the slightest flaw in Gao Shuyi.

Prior to receiving that secret letter from the third prince, he had always firmly believed that Gao Shuyi was going to become a pillar of the imperial court, and that regardless of who became the emperor in the future, the Gao Clan would enjoy a resurgence under the leadership of his capable son, and that the clan's title of duke would be elevated to that of county king.

In his mind, the Gao Clan would earn the favor of the new emperor, and that their empire would conquer Northern Jin Nation and Southern Qi Nation to become the largest empire on Parasol Leaf Continent.

The emperor and the third prince had both promised to compensate him for his loss, while all of the guest elders of the clan had advised him to bear the loss in silence.

Over this period of time, Gao Shizhen had appeared very calm and unperturbed, completely unlike what one would expect to see in a man who had just lost his own son. First, he left the imperial palace, then the prince's manor before finally leaving the capital city altogether in secret to serve as a secret messenger for the emperor.

He traveled to the Riding Crane City relay station to meet Yao Zhen, and the meeting went by without a hitch. Gao Shizhen was still the same shrewd and selfless duke who always had an eye on the big picture, and he had never disappointed the elderly emperor.

If it weren't for that opportunity that the heavens had bestowed upon him, Gao Shizhen wouldn't have been able to do anything. After all, Mirage City belonged to the emperor, while the Great Quan Empire belonged to the Liu Clan.

However, things were different now.

Someone had come to him, and he had gone to the eldest prince, Liu Cong, who had gathered five thousand soldiers. As for how many immortal powers Liu Cong had managed to win over behind the scenes, Gao Shizhen wasn't interested.

Even the weakest of opponents on paper was not to be taken lightly, and underestimating the enemy was a major taboo on the battlefield.

This was a basic principle that even a pampered nobleman like Gao Shizhen understood very well, so he was confident that Liu Cong was well aware of it too.

The duke was thus waiting for Liu Cong to deliver that head to him upon his return, and he would be able to take that head to the grave of his son.

Standing in front of the run-down temple, Chen Ping'an cast his gaze toward the two people hiding at the very back of Liu Cong's entourage.

Upon detecting Chen Ping'an's gaze, the two of them exchanged a glance with each other before taking a few steps forward, revealing themselves to be none other than Xu Qingzhou and Xu Tong, familiar faces who had fought against Lu Baixiang and Sui Youbian back in the inn on the border.

Xu Qingzhou removed his coir rain cape before tossing it aside, revealing a suit of armor. Strapped to his waist was a generic blade assigned to all of the soldiers serving on the Great Quan Empire's border, but that was only there for show, and in addition to that, he was also carrying Modesty.

Xu Qingzhou remained silent, while Xu Tong smiled and said, "What a coincidence it is that we've run into each other again, Young Master Chen. Our last encounter took place on the southern border, and now, we've been reunited on the northern border."

With the two of them, Liu Cong's entourage consisted of ten people, the other eight being all seasoned cultivators who had been with the army for many years on the northern border.

The only nations that the Great Quan Empire fought battles against were Northern Jin and Southern Qi. The southern border was defended by the Yao Clan's forces, while the 120,000 troops under the eldest prince's command were stationed at the northern border.

Battles against Southern Qi were a very frequent occurrence, and while that wasn't necessarily an indication of overall combat prowess, the eldest prince's forces definitely all had more experience on the battlefield than those of the Yao Clan.

Xu Qingzhou's objective for hunting down Chen Ping'an and the others was very clear: he wanted that suit of Dew Armor, and ideally, he wanted to claim that saber as well.

Liu Cong only agreed to give him the suit of Dew Armor, while the saber would have to be purchased, and whether the deal would be made depended on how much Xu Qingzhou and his clan were willing to offer.

Xu Tong was the master of the Flora Convent, the largest cultivating sect in the Great Quan Empire, and he excelled in lightning-based immortal techniques, as well as pill refinement. The latter of those two skills made him very popular with countless powerful figures as the pills that he refined had profound health benefits.

Whenever spiritual energy was injected into the Dao robe that he was wearing beneath his coir rain cape, a cloud of mist would be released, containing a vibrant image that depicted a piece of stunning scenery. The Dao robe's name was Five-Colored Peak, and it was a treasure passed down for generations in the Flora Convent, one that was extremely close to becoming an immortal treasure.

Of course, Xu Tong desperately desired the golden Dao Robe that Chen Ping'an was wearing.

Chen Ping'an cast his gaze toward Liu Cong as he asked, "Are you here for that chair?"

"Why else do you think I'm here?" Liu Cong spat through gritted teeth. "Are the lives of five thousand of my soldiers worthless in your eyes?! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't come here today to see you with my own eyes!"

"You wouldn't be able to live with yourself?" Chen Ping'an scoffed. "Did you not bring all of this upon yourself? Those five thousand soldiers perished on that mountain and... Forget it, you don't need me to educate you on this matter. You're most likely going to tell yourself that someone who's destined for great things can't get hung up on minor details, and that once you become emperor, those five thousand soldiers will have perished for your cause, so they would've died worthy deaths."

Chen Ping'an gently twirled the branch in his hand as he continued, "I just have one final question for you: why are you so convinced that this badge that I'm carrying is fake?"

Perhaps Liu Cong was making conversation with Chen Ping'an in order to buy himself time to muster up some courage, or perhaps he was doing so in order to get over the hurdle in his heart.

As for Chen Ping'an, he was willing to entertain Liu Cong precisely because he wanted to raise this final question, one that was of the utmost importance in his eyes.

Gao Shizhen was most definitely the one who wanted to claim his life, and he already had a rough idea of who wanted that item from Green Roving Residence, but who was coming after his Sword Nurturing Gourd?

Chen Ping'an had strapped the jade pendant to his waist as soon as he left the Riding Crane City relay station.

Upon his arrival at Peach Leaf Jetty, it was time for him to part ways with the Yao Clan's forces, and on that day, he had revealed to the world what was written on the jade pendant, the characters "The True Self is Cultivated on Peace and Tranquility Mountain."

Essentially, he was revealing to the entirety of Mirage City his direct connection to the ancestral hall of Peace and Tranquility Mountain in the hope that this would alleviate some of the pressure that Yao Zhen was facing in the capital. If his enemies in Mirage City didn't even recognize the jade pendant, then there was no need for the Yao Clan to be concerned.

As for those who could understand what the jade pendant entailed, they were all unfathomable figures who would know not to bite off more than they could chew. Temple Master Du Hanling of the Golden Summit Daoist Temple was precisely one of those people, and as soon as he caught sight of the jade pendant, he immediately departed, even though doing so had raised the ire of many powerful figures in Mirage City.

A peculiar look appeared in Liu Cong's eyes, and he only gave Chen Ping'an half an answer.

"That jade pendant of yours is most definitely genuine, but at the same time, it's also fake. It would've actually been better for you if you hadn't chosen to wear it, but now that you have, you've sealed your own fate!"

More and more conviction was creeping into Liu Cong's voice as he spoke, and Chen Ping'an was once again reminded of just how frustrating it was to speak to these people with imperial bloodlines.

First on that list was, of course, his neighbor Song Jixin.

The arguments of both sides each had their own merits, and it was impossible to objectively decide which one was right or wrong, but the fact of the matter was that Liu Cong had already come too far to turn back. His five thousand soldiers and the Qi refiners and martial arts masters concealed among them were already raring to go, and also powerful forces were pushing him forward behind the scenes.

Clearly, this conflict wasn't going to be one that could be resolved peacefully, and with that in mind, Chen Ping'an didn't want to waste any more time with words. If the conflict could be resolved with words, then he would be more than willing to speak, but it was painfully clear to him that no one would listen.

Chen Ping'an raised the branch in his hand and poked the air twice in Liu Cong's direction.

Zhu Lian immediately sprang forward in response. Even if this was a trap, he wanted to see exactly what the trap was!

Sui Youbian and Lu Baixiang sprang into action as well, while Wei Xian bounded along after them, quickly catching up to Zhu Lian.

He wasn't going to be entering the fray for now. Instead, his job was to protect the run-down temple.

As for Chen Ping'an, he remained calm and patient, waiting for his opponents to reveal their trump cards.

————

On the summit of a mountain taller than the one where the run-down temple was stood two lofty figures.

It was unclear whether they were lofty in the social sense, but at the very least, they were standing at a very lofty point in a geographic sense.

There was an old man in a Confucian robe in the Great Quan Empire. The jade pendant bestowed upon him by the academy was absent from his waist, but even so, no one dared to contest him as he stood on the roof of the imperial palace in Mirage City.

Standing next to the old man was an extremely muscular man who was giving off an almost inhuman aura of brutality, and with such high stakes at play, the old man asked a question that could be construed as very rude.

"Your master won't go back on his word, will he?"

The brawny man's response was even ruder and more direct.

"Who am I to say what my master is going to do? If you have the guts to ask, why not ask him yourself?"

"Everything I'm doing here is for the sake of the greater good, so my actions are justifiable. Even if Peace and Tranquility Mountain turns on the academy and I'm stripped of my title as punishment... it won't matter," the old man murmured to himself.

"You scholars really are a pretentious bunch," the brawny man sneered.

A wry smile appeared on the old man's face as he sighed, "The ability to learn from one's mistakes is a great virtue. I've read countless books from all of the hundred schools of thought, but that's a lesson that I've failed to learn."

The brawny man didn't mock the old man any further for fear that if he were to go too far, the old man would suddenly change his mind, thereby ruining the plan that his master had cooked up.

With that in mind, he consoled, "That treasure is extremely precious, so it's no wonder that you've plotted so extensively to obtain it. Truth be told, it's very alluring, even to me. How about we make a deal? Once you obtain the treasure, I'll give you the immortal treasure given to me by my master in exchange for the first half. After that, I'll serve you for sixty years in exchange for the rest. What do you say?"

The old man considered this offer momentarily, then replied with a nod, "Deal!"

"Prior to coming here, my master forbade me from getting involved in this conflict unless it's to save your life," the brawny man cautioned. "He also advised you to try and refrain from turning to violence, and that even if you do, you should do so in moderation. Otherwise, you could easily attract the attention of that sage from the Confucian temple.

“Even though that sage is currently busy searching for that old ape from Peace and Tranquility Mountain, if he suddenly decides to come here, then Liu Cong and those other small fry might be be spared from punishment, but the two of us are definitely not going to be so fortunate."

At the mention of the sage from the Confucian temple, the old man's glum mood was soured even further. All of the seventy-two sages in the authentic temple of decorum on Middle Earth Divine Continent were extremely powerful figures that were not to be messed with. In contrast with the likes of the seventy-two academy mountain masters, these were true Confucian sages, not just academy sages revered by mortal empires.

With that in mind, the old man gave a grim nod as he replied, "I understand."

The storm on the mountain summit was becoming heavier, but the rain was spraying in all directions before it had a chance to fall onto the two men, as if there were an invisible oil-paper umbrella above their heads.

The brawny man yawned lazily to himself, and he couldn't help but wonder why someone of his master's status and powers would be so intent on hunting down that young boy.

Unfortunately for his master, he had taken virtually the entire Parasol Leaf Continent into account in his plan, but he had failed to anticipate that a young boy from Planchette Writing Sect would inadvertently stumble upon that twelfth tier master. As a result of this unforeseen mishap, the entire plan that his master had painstakingly hatched was at risk of falling apart at the seams.

Could it be that the fortune of Parasol Leaf Continent was really so dense that it couldn't compare with Southern Whirl Continent that was closest to Stalactite Mountain?

It was important to remember that the almighty Old Man Chen was present on Southern Whirl Continent. According to his master, Old Man Chen was an extremely renowned figure, even back in his hometown, and was regarded as one of his most formidable potential foes. Even his master had admitted that he would definitely be no match for Chen Chun'an as long as they were in Majestic World.

————

A young Daoist priest wearing a hibiscus hat had arrived at a small town on the southern border of the Great Quan Empire. Instead of making his way into the town, he walked slowly along its short earthen walls, gently brushing a hand over the coarse surface of the wall with a faint smile on his face.

After that, he made his way to an inn near the small town along the official road. Business was quite slow in the inn, and a lame young boy was taking a nap with his head resting on the table, while a hunch-backed old man was smoking his pipe while seated by the curtain. A woman was sitting behind the counter, working out the accounts, and she was getting so frustrated that she had to fight back the urge to smash the abacus.

The young Daoist priest stepped into the inn, then quietly called out for Jiu Niang with a gentle and soft look in his eyes.

The lame young boy raised his head in a bleary-eyed fashion and a vexed look on his face. The impoverished scholar had only just left, yet now, it was this young Daoist priest's turn to hit on their shopkeeper. Were there no other good-looking women in this world?! Why were they all coming to harass their shopkeeper?

The woman raised her with a perplexed expression and asked, "Have we met before?"

The young Daoist priest was quite unremarkable in appearance, and the only thing worthy of note about him was his rare Daoist hat. His looks were quite average, as was his height, and his Daoist robes also appeared rather old.

However, what caught the woman's attention was the look in his eyes, which she found to be very strange. There was none of the lascivious lust and desire that she saw in the eyes of the young men from the town, nor the inexplicable look of infatuation that Zhong Kui had gazed upon her with.

Instead, it seemed like he was merely greeting an acquaintance that he hadn't seen for a long time. However, even though he was clearly looking at her, it also seemed like he was looking further into the distance.