Unsheathed

Standing at the dock located at the foot of the mountain on Osmanthus Island, Chen Ping'an took a small step and arrived at Stalactite Mountain.

Before arriving at Stalactite Mountain, Aunt Gui had told Chen Ping'an that Osmanthus Island would experience its busiest moments immediately after it docked at Stalactite Mountain. During this time, all of the goods from Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, Complete Reed Continent, and Parasol Leaf Continent would need to be unloaded without any mistake.

Otherwise, the time-honored reputation of Old Dragon City's Fan Clan would be ruined. Because of this, she, the old boatman, and Ma Zhi needed to personally keep an eye on the handover of every single item. As such, they wouldn't have time to leave the island with Chen Ping'an and bring him to an inn on Stalactite Mountain.

Aunt Gui had initially wanted Jin Su to bring Chen Ping'an to the inn which had been on friendly terms with Osmanthus Island for many generations, but Chen Ping'an had politely turned down this offer. This had caused Jin Su to grumble with slight dissatisfaction in her mind. Stalactite Mountain was filled with all kinds of wondrous things, so much so that one would never tire of them. Visitors would be able to find fresh and marvelous things no matter how many times they visited.

However, the slightly dispirited osmanthus girl suddenly saw the young boy turn around and crack a grin at her, as if he had seen through her thoughts. Jin Su shot a vicious glare at him. Chen Ping'an waved goodbye to Lady Gui, the old boatman, and Ma Zhi. Then, as if he didn't dare to catch Jin Su's gaze again, he turned around and quickly ran to the entrance of Stalactite Mountain.

Jin Su couldn't help but giggle.

Chen Ping'an took a deep breath as he walked among the flowing throng of people.

He had finally arrived.

One couldn't pass through Stalactite Mountain and enter the Sword Qi Great Wall whenever and wherever they wanted. Apart from needing an azure wood clearance badge to enter Stalactite Mountain, the hundred or so people who needed to pass through another checkpoint to enter the Sword Qi Great Wall were given an additional jade tablet as well. At the same time, they were informed that they could pass through the checkpoint at midnight in three days' time. They would have fifteen minutes to pass before it was time for the next group, and they would be refused entry if they missed this time slot.

After leaving Osmanthus Island, Chen Ping'an kept a white jade tablet hanging from his waist. This was a jade tablet that only had a single character inscribed on it, "border." Aunt Gui had told him that all kinds of scenery existed on Stalactite Mountain, and that there were also a myriad stores that sold all kinds of goods. Thus, he should take advantage of these three days to travel around as much as he could.

If he came across any immortal treasure or artifact that he fancied, but he didn't have enough money on hand to purchase them, he could borrow money from the manager of that inn. The manager would definitely agree to lend him money if it was fewer than ten grain rain coins. Moreover, according to the agreements between them, this debt would be recorded under Osmanthus Island.

The dock on the mountain cliff was called the Catch and Release Dock, and this name had originated from an ancient pavilion nearby that had a very long history. A plaque with the characters "Catch and Release Pavilion" hung on the ancient structure, and these characters had been personally written by the former Branch Master of a Daoist branch.

There were nine structures in Stalactite Mountain that belonged to the Daoist Sect of this world, while the remaining tall buildings, large courtyards, and all kinds of shops had already been sold to other people from all over the world. Among these nine structures, eight were located on eight different sides of Stalactite Mountain.

They were the Catch and Release Pavilion, Sword Reverence Pagoda, Incense Offering Tower, Lightning Lake Platform, Ganoderma Inn, Daoist Seal Hall, Daoist Saber Room, and Milu Cliff. Including the Lone Peak located in the central region, there were nine structures and territories in total.

Even though Stalactite Mountain measured around fifty kilometers in radius, the Daoist branch led by the second disciple of the Dao Ancestor didn't occupy a significant area of this land. In fact, neither the territory nor the number of disciples belonging to this branch was very large.

"Young Master Chen, Young Master Chen!"

Someone strained their voice and loudly called out behind Chen Ping'an. He turned around, only to see the young boy in green who had introduced himself as Liu Youzhou. The young boy jogged over to Chen Ping'an and immediately fired off a long list of questions as if pouring beans from a bucket. "Young Master Chen, where are you staying in Stalactite Mountain? Have you made a reservation yet? If you haven't, then why don't you go to my place? My clan owns an estate here, it's close to a place called the Sword Reverence Pagoda. I've heard that the estate is fairly big. I've always wanted to thank you, so how about you give me the opportunity right now?"

Chen Ping'an shook his head and replied with a smile, "There's no need. Osmanthus Island has already organized everything for me, and I'll be staying at Stork Inn."

Disappointment spread across the face of the young boy from the Pure White Continent. He was unwilling to give up, and he persuaded, "Is that so? Then how about I look for you afterward? This is my first time in Stalactite Mountain, so I need to take a good look around. Do you want to go around together?"

Chen Ping'an faltered upon hearing this.

"Young Master, the two of you only met by chance recently and are still unfamiliar with each other, so it's unreasonable for you to be so overly friendly so soon," the old woman beside Liu Youzhou said. "To say nothing of the fact that Young Master Chen won't dare to agree to your request, even I wouldn't agree to it if I were in his place."

Chen Ping'an smiled and remained silent.

"Alright," the young boy replied with a dejected expression. "Young Master Chen, I'm staying at the Ape Havoc Estate, so you can look for me there if you have nothing else to do. Ask for Liu Youzhou, and tell them that you're my friend."

"I'll keep that in mind," Chen Ping'an replied with a nod.

Chen Ping'an, Liu Youzhou, and the old woman turned around in unison. There was a beautiful "young woman" standing nearby, and it looked as if she were hesitating about whether she should speak.

A warm smile appeared on the old woman's face, and she looked a withered tree experiencing a new spring. "Young esteemed immortal, is there something troubling you?" she asked in a pleasant and amicable voice.

However, the young immortal ignored the old woman and directly stared at Chen Ping'an, saying, "Oi, can you lend me a grain rain coin? I'll return three or five to you in the future."

Chen Ping'an handed the young immortal a grain rain coin. The latter accepted the coin and left with a smile.

"Young Master Chen, is she your friend?" Liu Youzhou asked.

"We don't know each other," Chen Ping'an replied with a shake of his head.

Liu Youzhou was astonished, and he exclaimed, "Then why did you lend her money? Don't you know that beautiful young women are the best in the world at cheating people? Young Master Chen, allow me to be nosy and say something else. No matter how little one grain rain coin is worth, you still can't travel around the cultivation world with such an attitude."

Chen Ping'an grimaced and bade farewell.

One grain rain coin is worth little? A beautiful young woman?

The old woman couldn't contain her laughter, and she chuckled, "Young Master, did you not realize that the pretty young woman was actually a man?"

Liu Youzhou was stupefied, and he replied in a quiet voice, "I was busy stealing glances at her face and figure just then, but I didn't dare to look too much."

The old woman had no option but to correct Liu Youzhou again, stressing, "Young Master, that person isn't a young woman."

Liu Youzhou flicked his sleeve and strode forward, saying, "With how beautiful he is, I'll pretend that he's a young woman."

Chen Ping'an didn't hurry over to Stork Inn straight away. Instead, he followed the flow of people to the nearby Catch and Release Pavilion.

When Chen Ping'an arrived near the small but overcrowded pavilion, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He felt like this pavilion didn't live up to its fame. It was extremely small, and it was in fact even smaller than the Mountain and Water Pavilion in Sword Saint Song's Sword Water Villa in Colorful Garment Nation.

There were over a hundred people standing inside and outside the pavilion already, and Chen Ping'an stood on his tippy-toes to glance at the small pavilion that couldn't fit a mouse, let alone another person. After having a quick look, he was just about to turn around and leave.

However, it was at this moment that a familiar voice sounded behind him again, sounding as feminine as the person's appearance. "You're not going to enter the pavilion and look around for a short while?"

Chen Ping'an turned around and smiled at the young man standing beside him, replying, "It's far too crowded in there, so I don't dare to go. I'm afraid that I won't be able to make it out."

The young man pointed at three young women standing not far in front of them, and it was as if they were also undecided about whether they should enter the Catch and Release Pavilion. He smiled faintly and said, "Just follow me and think about this as me paying interest on the grain rain coin."

Chen Ping'an had no idea what was going on.

The young man pointed at his Adam's apple with a strange smile.

"An illusion technique?" Chen Ping'an asked in an uncertain voice.

"Lend me your wine gourd for a while. Rest assured, I won't covet a small and crappy wine gourd like this. My Sword Nurturing Gourd can be regarded as its old ancestor, and I simply don't dare to wear it on my waist," the young man replied.

He nodded at Chen Ping'an before grabbing the wine gourd from the young boy's waist without another word. He briskly walked over to the three young women with above-average appearances, tilting his head and drinking wine as he did so. And thus, he displayed both the appearance of a breathtakingly beautiful woman and the carefree and mighty nature of a man.

A short moment later, the young man stood amid the group of young women and beckoned Chen Ping'an over. The young boy had no option but to walk over. The young man introduced him using a dialect that he couldn't understand, but he repeated his words to Chen Ping'an afterward using the official dialect of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

As it turned out, the three young women were sect disciples from Southern Whirl Continent, and they were traveling through other continents as a group. They were on a training mission, and they needed to slay a Dragon Gate Tier sea demon to successfully complete their training. Their final destination was Stalactite Mountain, and they would return to their sect in Southern Whirl Continent after visiting.

Afterward, the young man would hear no complaints as he grabbed Chen Ping'an's elbow and charged toward the Catch and Release Pavilion with the three celestial maidens from Southern Whirl Continent.

There was an interesting backstory regarding the Catch and Release Pavilion. It was said that the second disciple of the Dao Ancestor — one of the three branch masters of the Daoist orthodoxy from Heavenly World, True Invincible — had personally come to this place after tossing down the largest mountain seal. At that time, a great demon at the peak stage of the 12th tier had used some unknown techniques to sneak past the numerous restrictions at the Sword Qi Great Wall and arrive at the mountain seal, also known as Stalactite Mountain.

However, the first person encountered by the great demon had coincidentally been that Daoist branch master. Back then, Stalactite Mountain had still been a desolate region with no population to speak of, so the great demon had initially thought that it could do as it pleased.

Upon seeing the Daoist branch master, it had naturally spoken in an offensive manner and wanted to gobble him up in a single mouthful. In terms of the outcome, this went without saying. The great demon was smacked half-dead by the Daoist branch master. However, its final fate was still unknown. The old Daoist branch master, regarded as the strongest fighter in the four worlds, tossed the great demon back to someplace south of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Thus, future generations of Daoists built this pavilion to represent the paramount Dao power of that branch master.

Chen Ping'an was exhausted by this trip to the Catch and Release Pavilion, with his entire back drenched in sweat. This was because the three celestial maidens and the young man who was even more beautiful than them would inevitably face accidental bumps or purposeful body contact when walking around the bustling pavilion. Thus, Chen Ping'an could only do his best to protect them. At the same time, he also had to prevent himself from accidentally making contact with them.

This was naturally taxing on both the body and the mind, especially since there were subtle struggles and battles everywhere. Fortunately, the number one rule in Stalactite Mountain was that those who injured others would be punished by death. Because of this, Chen Ping'an was able to successfully protect the group as a fourth tier martial artist.

After finally leaving the Catch and Release Pavilion, Chen Ping'an and the young man parted ways with the three celestial maidens. The young women were still headed toward the nearest attraction, Milu Cliff.

Chen Ping'an took his Sword Nurturing Gourd back and tied it back at his waist. "Don't do things like this in the future," he said in exasperation.

The young man rolled his eyes at Chen Ping'an and grumbled, "How boring. I'll go and play with the celestial maidens instead."

Chen Ping'an breathed a sigh of relief and bade farewell.

Glancing at the young boy's disappearing figure, the young man muttered, "He's far too serious, and he's surprisingly not feigning this. Perhaps he's a young pedant taught and raised by some old pedant?"

"Young Miss, are you enjoying the scenery by yourself?" a handsome man standing nearby asked.

The feminine young man chuckled and replied, "You can get stuffed. I've traveled through a brothel with your mother before."

The dignified-looking man hurriedly waved his hand, gesturing for his subordinates to stand down and not act rashly. In the end, he raised a thumb with a dazzling smile, remarking, "I like your personality, Young Miss."

The feminine young man ignored him and left the Catch and Release Pavilion. While walking, he debated whether he should go to the Sword Reverence Pagoda or the Incense Offering Tower first.

The dignified-looking man gazed at the stunning beauty with a colorful ribbon around "her" waist, and he remarked with emotion, "Such carefree and beautiful women only exist in the mountains. Cultivation is good! No matter how beautiful women outside the mountains are, their alluring beauty can only last for a measly ten or twenty years."

"Your Majesty, you can head to the Lightning Lake Platform now. Don't make the imperial preceptor wait for too long," a subordinate reminded him in a soft voice, using the official dialect of Middle Earth Divine Continent.

"Mhm, I'll head over right away," the man replied with a smile.

Whether it was the man referred to as "Your Majesty" or the subordinates beside him, it appeared as if none of them felt like it was right for the emperor to make his imperial preceptor wait.

They hurriedly made their way to the Lightning Lake Platform.

This was a tall platform with ninety-nine steps leading to the top, and it looked like a gigantic bowl that was filled with viscous lightning.

According to rumors, the second disciple of the Dao Ancestor had scooped up a handful of lightning from that ancient lake of lightning and placed it in Stalactite Mountain. That was a lake of lightning that existed only in the records but was unable to be found in real life. Every time the branch master, a Great Heavenly Lord, slew an immortal or spirit who had broken the rules, he would detain their souls in the lake of lightning in Stalactite Mountain.

However, the Lightning Lake Platform was surprisingly closed today, with no one allowed to go near it.

At this moment, only a single person with a tall and sturdy body was half-squatting beside the lake of lightning atop the Lightning Lake Platform. His elbows rested on his knees, and his chin rested on his arms. A scabbardless sword was hovering amid the lake of lightning, with only less than half of it still visible. After the sword became fully immersed, the entire lake of lightning started to seethe and churn.

This person was most likely tempering their sword.

An old Daoist priest with a fly-whisk resting on his arms stood at the bottom of the tall platform, a warm smile on his face. It was as if he were feeling proud on the tall and sturdy man's behalf.

As the third in command in Stalactite Mountain, the old Daoist priest was regarded as a natural enemy by all of the flood dragons and their kin in the South Sea. Throughout a millennium, he had killed countless flood dragons and crafted a pseudo-celestial tool, the fly-whisk in his arms. During the most recent five centuries, the old Daoist priest had once fought against two Confucian sages from Southern Whirl Continent's Chen Clan in the South Sea, and his fame had spread far and wide.

However, although he was facing an outsider today, and even if he seemed like a housekeeper for this person, the old Daoist priest didn't feel offended or devalued in the least. Instead, he looked extremely satisfied and pleased with himself.

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