Unsheathed

Chapter 360 (2): Reaching Old Dragon City

Having discovered a newfound admiration for Lu Yong, Pei Qian hurriedly refilled the old immortal's cup with tea.

Of course, Chen Ping'an was reading much deeper into this than Pei Qian, and he was considering things like the impact that his decision would have on the business conducted between Green Goat Palace and the Jiang Clan.

With that in mind, it occurred to him that it was perhaps not in his best interest to accept these six Seated Meditation Pills.

Hence, after some contemplation, he decided to turn down the gift. If the third party involved here had been the Fan Clan of Old Dragon City as opposed to Jiang Shangzhen, then perhaps there would be room for negotiation. After all, this would indeed be a win-win business arrangement for everyone.

However, Chen Ping'an didn't want to deepen his ties with Jiang Shangzhen any further, so he replied, "I appreciate your kind offer, Palace Leader Lu, but these pills are far too precious for me to accept. On top of that, Jiang Shangzhen and I are no closer than mere acquaintances.

“Having said that, I can write a letter to Jiang Shangzhen to explain the situation, and I'll make it clear that you were very sincere with your offer, but I chose to turn you down for personal reasons. That way, he'll know that you're not to blame."

Lu Yong's expression remained unchanged, and it seemed that he was weighing up his options, but internally, he was kicking himself.

He should've never alluded to the business implications between Green Goat Palace and the Jiang Clan as this was clearly the reason for Chen Ping'an's apprehension.

On the floor of the louchuan below this one, a young cultivator was standing by a window with a dark look on his face.

Inside the same room was a beautiful female cultivator, but at this moment, her complexion was deathly pale. It was the same Golden Core Tier earth immortal that Jiang Shangzhen had almost killed with a single slap back on the Heavenly Palace Peak.

The young cultivator standing by the window was none other than Jiang Shangzhen himself, who had adopted a disguise and snuck onto the ship. Following Chen Ping'an's departure from the Heavenly Palace Peak, he had chosen to take the ship instead of returning to Jade Tablet Sect.

From there, he went straight to the poor Golden Core Tier female cultivator that had only recently been pried out of the mountain. She was not very pleased to see a stranger at her door, but Jiang Shangzhen then shed his disguise for a moment to reveal his true identity, and the woman was so terrified that she almost fell to her knees to beg for mercy.

Jiang Shangzhen had no plans to reveal himself to Chen Ping'an, nor did he have any ulterior motives.

Being indecisive on matters that concerned the foundation of one's Great Dao had always been seen as one of the most terrible mistakes one could make in their cultivation, and one's mental state could easily become tainted and impure, so the utmost caution had to be exercised on such matters.

He was only going to wait until Lu Yong completed the task that he had assigned to him before returning to Jade Tablet Sect, where there were a myriad of problems waiting for him to be addressed, the most pressing of which was his son, Jiang Beihai.

Jiang Shangzhen wanted nothing more than to snap that bastard's arms and legs, then throw him into the Cloud Cave Blessed Land to roam the streets as a beggar for lifetime after lifetime. In his eyes, Jiang Beihai's ambitions far outweighed his talents, and during his sixty-year-long absence, Jiang Beihai had really been making the most of his freedom—perhaps a little too much.

For cultivators of the Upper Five Tiers, offspring was very difficult to come by, certainly much more difficult than it was for cultivators of the Middle Five Tiers to start large clans.

Back in Chen Ping'an's room, Lu Yong didn't dare to get any other funny ideas, and he finally turned his attention solely to giving away that vial of Seated Meditation Pills.

However, now that the mistake had already been committed, it proved extremely difficult to try and make amends.

Chen Ping'an wasn't aware of what Jiang Shangzhen had said to Lu Yong following his departure, but there was one thing that he had firmly made up his mind on, which was that his ties with Jiang Shangzhen could only be limited to the demon core that Jiang Shangzhen had given to him, and that he absolutely wouldn't deepen his ties with Jiang Shangzhen any further than that.

Chen Ping'an's fist technique practice was what was saving his life, but his pure heart and his ability to resist temptations and remain true to himself in such a complex world were also keys to his survival.

Chen Ping'an was certain that in the wake of Jiang Shangzhen's visit to the Heavenly Palace Peak, Lu Yong definitely wouldn't dare to do anything to him, so he knew that he could refuse this vial of Seated Meditation Pills without any fear of backlash.

In particular, Lu Yong was a Nascent Tier earth immortal, and a man of his cultivation base and status was only going to cherish his own life more than the average man.

With Chen Ping'an's mind already made up, there was no getting through to him.

No matter what Lu Yong said to try and get Chen Ping'an to accept the vial of pills, Chen Ping'an continued to refuse him, and despite his polite and amicable demeanor, he remained as firm as an immovable mountain.

Was he really going to have to do what Jiang Shangzhen had said and cry, beg, and threaten to hang himself just to convince Chen Ping'an to change his mind?

He couldn't bring himself to do that. Hence, in the end, he could only implore Chen Ping'an to reconsider, then make his way to another room on the same floor of the louchuan.

However, as soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by the sight that he least wanted to see: Jiang Shangzhen's face.

Jiang Shangzhen absolutely detested people who tried to outsmart others, only to outsmart themselves in the end, and he didn't utter a single word as he unleashed his Unpolished Jade Tier mystical power to transform the room into a completely isolated prison. He then reached out with one hand and grabbed Lu Yong, throwing him into the room. Then a series of golden pillars with golden dragons coiled around them appeared inside.

The dragons flew off the pillars, then passed through Lu Yong's major acupoints like a series of golden chains, and the final dragon, the most imposing and majestic of them all, pressed a claw against Lu Yong's head and slammed him onto the ground.

Jiang Shangzhen strode over to Lu Yong, then placed a foot down onto the back of his head as he said in a cold voice, "I granted you such a brilliant opportunity, yet you're still not satisfied! Do you think I'm a merciful Bodhisattva?

“If it wasn't for the fact that Chen Ping'an appeared on the Heavenly Palace Peak, and that spark of inspiration provided by that jade hairpin of his, I wouldn't have granted you this opportunity at all. Instead, I would've ripped your soul out of your body and smashed it into Clear Realm Mountain to serve as a mural!"

Jiang Shangzhen was slowly applying more and more and more force through his foot as he spoke, and Lu Yong didn't dare to cry out in pain. His soul was trembling violently, and he was in so much agony that he wished he was dead.

Jiang Shangzhen's eyes narrowed slightly as he pressed down on the man's head. "There are so many greedy cultivators in this world who just don't know when to stop, who always want more! Just because you were lucky enough to reach the Nascent Tier, you think you're better than everyone else?

“Even I had to tuck my tail between my legs and suppress my killing intent to treat Chen Ping'an as my equal, all because of that swordsman, yet here you are, thinking that you can outsmart everyone!"

The back of Lu Yong's head had already caved in slightly, and with just a bit more force, his soul would be detonated, blowing up both his golden core and his nascent soul. Of course, Jiang Shangzhen would also be caught in the explosion and suffer some injuries, but it seemed like he was more than ready to bear those consequences.

Jiang Shangzhen had already made an agreement with Lu Yong, allowing him to send a Green Goat Palace disciple with the best aptitude into the Cloud Cave Blessed Land to seek out opportunities once they reached the Middle Five Tiers.

Essentially, he had extended an olive branch to Green Goat Palace on behalf of the Jiang Clan and Jade Tablet Sect, and once that connection was established, at the very least, there wouldn't be any Golden Core Tier cultivators that dared to insult Lu Yong and display disrespects to the elders on Green Goat Palace's ship.

However, none of that mattered.

On the path of cultivation, the ability to grasp opportunities was just as important as the ability to circumvent disasters, and on this occasion, Lu Yong had done a terrible job of both.

In a similar vein, both Zhao Yao and Song Jixin were children who had come out of Jewel Small World, and in contrast with Chen Ping'an, who had never gone to school, the two of them were considered to have been direct disciples of Qi Jingchun's as they had been his students. In particular, Zhao Yao had received the most fundamental spring seal from Qi Jingchun.

However, even though Qi Jingchun had placed high hopes in him, and even Zheng Dafeng had been quite fond of him, in Cui Chan's eyes, he was still nothing more than an ant, albeit one that was a little bigger than the average ant, and his spring seal was taken from him in a flash.

If he hadn't been so "smart" and refused to give up the spring seal in exchange for a fated opportunity from Cui Chan, Qi Jingchun would've never allowed Cui Chan to take the seal.

In this situation here, Lu Yong was also about to lose his life as a result of a lapse in judgment.

Jiang Shangzhen took a deep breath, then withdrew his foot before throwing a kick at Lu Yong's face, sending him flying back and crashing into one of the golden pillars in the room.

Lu Yong struggled into a seated position with his back leaning against the pillar, and the golden dragon was hanging directly above him, looking down at him in a menacing fashion, as if it were about to bite his head off.

Jiang Shangzhen suppressed his fury, then crouched down to look into Lu Yong's eyes. He smiled and asked, "Are you angry that you've suffered such humiliation at my hands?"

"I wouldn't dare!" Lu Yong hurriedly replied in a horrified manner.

All of a sudden, a vibrant willow leaf appeared in front of Jiang Shangzhen.

Lu Yong was even more horrified to see this, and he began kowtowing with all his might, pounding his head into the ground as he pleaded, "Please spare me, Senior!"

Jiang Shangzhen of Jade Tablet Sect had always been renowned across Parasol Leaf Continent for his wealth, and very rarely was there ever news of him engaging in battle against anyone.

However, the entire continent was aware that the sect leader of Jade Tablet Sect had always had a soft spot for Jiang Shangzhen. In the past, the Cloud Cave Blessed Land had been jointly managed by the sect and the Jiang Clan, but the sect leader had since assigned sole ownership of the blessed land to the Jiang Clan, despite vehement objections from many parties.

Around five hundred years ago, it became an unspoken rule that one could afford to mess with Jade Tablet Sect, but crossing the Jiang Clan was to be avoided at all costs, and it was said that this rule had been extrapolated from the final words of a Nascent Tier cultivator from Parasol Leaf Sect.

Jiang Shangzhen's bonded item was a willow leaf, and no one on the entire Parasol Leaf Continent had ever seen anything like this before.

Apparently, the conclusion of the final words from that Parasol Leaf Sect Nascent Tier cultivator were: "His willow leaf can slay even earth immortals."

"The Jiang Clan has been reduced to irrelevance for two hundred years during my absence. Now that I'm back, I'll bring shame to my ancestors if I don't at least kill an earth immortal to announce my return," Jiang Shangzhen mused.

Tears began to flow down Lu Yong's face as he desperately pleaded, "But Senior Jiang, if you kill a Nascent Tier earth immortal as pathetic as myself, then you'll only be bringing even more shame upon the Jiang Clan! You should choose another earth immortal to kill!"

"You know what? That's actually a fairly smart response. I'm impressed," Jiang Shangzhen mused, and he snapped his fingers, upon which the willow leaf and the golden dragon pillars vanished in unison.

Even though it seemed like he had been spared, Lu Yong still didn't dare to stand up, and he remained seated on the ground in a pathetic fashion as he pleaded, "Please give me another chance, Senior. If I don't achieve a satisfactory outcome this time, then I'll forfeit my own life, but if that happens, I implore you to spare Green Goat Palace."

"You're finally showing a little backbone for once," Jiang Shangzhen said with a nod of approval. "Stand up. A Nascent Tier earth immortal like yourself shouldn't be crying like a sniveling little girl. If word of this gets out, people will think that I was picking on a mere Nascent Tier cultivator. You're in luck. If you were at the Unpolished Jade Tier, you'd already be dead by now."

Lu Yong immediately rose to his feet, and tears began flowing down his face again as he said, "Thank you for sparing me, Senior."

"Looking at how pathetic you are, I'm beginning to take a little pity on you," Jiang Shangzhen sighed. "It seems that staying in one place for too long has made my heart soft and weak. Once up a time, I encountered another Nascent Tier earth immortal from Parasol Leaf Sect, and even after he kowtowed to me a thousand times in a row, I still didn't feel like he had displayed enough sincerity, so I used by willow leaf to sever the head of the nascent soul in his body. Hmm... It looks like I'm going to have to learn to steel myself again once I return to the sect."

He then waved a dismissive hand as he continued, "You can go now. After you've delivered the gift, that will be the end of this matter, and you won't have to worry about any further trouble from me. On top of that, you can still send a disciple from your Green Goat Palace to the Cloud Cave Blessed Land."

Lu Yong thanked Jiang Shangzhen once again, then backed out of the room, and only after closing the door did he realize that this was the room that he usually stayed in while traveling on the ship. However, he naturally didn't dare to knock on the door again, so he approached the administrator on the ship and requested another room.

That same night, Lu Yong made a second visit to Chen Ping'an's room, and after sitting down, he immediately brought out three antiquated little vials without saying anything.

In response to Chen Ping'an's inquisitive look, he rose to his feet as he said, "The vial in the center contains the six Seated Meditation Pills, while the other two vials each contain six Fire Dragon Pills and six Rain Bringer Pills.

“There are labels on the bottoms of the vials that'll tell you their contents. The Fire Dragon Pills were refined using the slough of a fire flood dragon as the primary ingredient, while the Rain Bringer Pills were refined using a type of unique moss.

“These pills are suitable for consumption for Qi refiners below earth immortals, and they can be consumed together to exceptional effect, able to significantly enhance the soul. In particular, these pills can serve as an exceptional breakthrough aide for Qi refiners on the cusp of reaching the Golden Core Tier."

Before Chen Ping'an had a chance to refuse, Lu Yong continued in a solemn voice, "If you don't wish to accept my gifts, then I don't dare to force you, but in that case, I will kindly ask you to pay a visit to my grave the next time you pass by the Heavenly Palace Peak."

After that, Lu Yong vanished into thin air, while Pei Qian looked on with a stunned expression.

Never had she seen anyone give out gifts in such an extraordinary fashion!

Chen Ping'an stood up and looked around momentarily before calling out, "Jiang Shangzhen, you're here, right?"

Jiang Shangzhen appeared on the observation deck, then waved at Chen Ping'an with a warm smile before falling back through the air, flying out of the observation deck as he plunged gracefully into the clouds down below.

Chen Ping'an massaged his forehead as he heaved a weary sigh.

After leaving Chen Ping'an's room, Lu Yong timidly made his way to the room where he had just recently been abused by Jiang Shangzhen, and after knocking on the door, he received no response. He mustered up his courage to knock again, but once again, there was no response.

Only after waiting for a long while did he push open the door to enter the room.

Jiang Shangzhen was already nowhere to be seen, and all that was left in the room was a large pile of grain rain coins sitting on the table.

Lu Tai sat down at the table with a dazed expression, and after a moment of silence, tears began to flow down his face once again.

He decided there and then that upon his return to the Heavenly Palace Peak, he was going to dedicate the rest of his life solely to pill refinement, and that he was never going to deal with these erratic and unpredictable immortals of the Upper Five Tiers ever again.

Meanwhile, Chen Ping'an called upon Wei Xian and the others to discuss this matter, and he made no effort to hide the three vials of pills from them.

Wei Xian's opinion was that the pills were definitely genuine and safe to consume, while Lu Baixiang was of the opinion that it was always better to be safe than sorry, so he advised Chen Ping'an to sell the pills once they reached Old Dragon City.

Sui Youbian wasn't very good in matters like these, so she didn't say anything.

As for Zhu Lian, he proposed a middle ground of sorts, imploring Chen Ping'an to grant him a Fire Dragon Pill and a Rain Bringer Pill. He would take both pills, and if they really did have a soul-nurturing effect, and he didn't drop dead before reaching Old Dragon City, then that would prove that the three vials truly did contain the pills that Lu Yong proclaimed they did.

Once it was ascertained that the pills were safe for consumption, Chen Ping'an could then decide whether to keep the pills or sell them.

In the end, Chen Ping'an decided to stow the three vials away into Fifteenth for now.

That very same night, Zhu Lian came to knock on his door in secret, then implored him a second time to give him a Fire Dragon Pill and a Rain Bringer Pill, and he told Chen Ping'an that he would pay for the pills at a later date.

Chen Ping'an sighed in a resigned manner. "Do you really have that much of a death wish, Zhu Lian?"