Unsheathed

Chapter 346 (1): Scholar Explaining Sequential Order, Water Goddess Forming Golden Core

Chapter 346 (1): Scholar Explaining Sequential Order, Water Goddess Forming Golden Core

Milling people during the first watch of the night, flickering flames on the second; wandering ghosts on the third, and sneaking thieves on the fourth. Roosters call on the fifth, and a new day begins.[1]

It was midnight, and Burial River was thick with yin energy.

Perhaps due to the killing intent radiating from the cavalrymen of the Yao Clan and their weapons, this menacing yin energy was blocked from entering the relay station, as if there was an invisible wall holding it back.

Yao Jinzhi was in her room, practicing a divination technique commonly known as the Fire Pearl Forest Technique. This was a secret technique from the mountains, yet it couldn't be regarded as a legitimate or orthodox technique. Yao Jinzhi had coincidentally learned this technique from a scripture library during her childhood, and she had simply treated it as a pastime for the past few years.

She could either toss three copper coins onto the floor to answer a single question, or she could place six copper coins into a bamboo tube before tossing them out and observing which side they landed on to predict one's future and estimate one's luck. However, this was hit-and-miss, so even Yao Jinzhi didn't believe the results too much.

Tonight, she performed divination with three copper coins to determine whether her trip to the capital of the Great Quan Empire would be a smooth sailing one. The result was great fortune.

She then used six copper coins to predict the fortune of the Great Quan Empire's Imperial Liu Clan.

Afterward, Yao Jinzhi was perplexed as she looked at the copper coins one by one. She couldn't make sense of the results no matter how she wracked her brain. In the end, she could only chuckle in self-ridicule and remark that it was innately wrong to ask these questions to ghosts and deities instead of the common people.

Yao Jinzhi didn't dwell on the results of the two divinations any more, and stood up and walked to the window, where she saw Yao Lingzhi practicing saber techniques outside. Further into the distance, she could still see candlelight illuminating that room. There was no need to guess; she knew that it was Yao Xianzhi burning the midnight oil to study military texts.

She returned to her table, thinking that she could occasionally play Go with Mr. Lu during this trip. She could also give a few small and exquisite trinkets to that little girl called Pei Qian. Of course, she also needed to find an opportunity to give that young guest elder of the Imperial Liu Clan a present that adhered to propriety.

As a young woman, she had naturally detected the emotions hidden deep inside Shao Yuanran's eyes. However, she was purposely pretending that she didn't understand his feelings even though she had clearly seen through them. She had only spoken a few words to that young Daoist priest during their trip, and she had also gazed at the back of his figure on purpose one time.

In fact, it was quite hilarious that the young guest elder thought that his fake expression of calm and indifference could hide his emotions and fool her. Yao Jinzhi was clearly aware that her "inadvertent" gaze had caused the heart of that wildly ambitious Daoist priest to flutter.

Yao Jinzhi firmly believed that the reaction of one's heart was far more credible than one's explanation of a myriad of words. In any case, saying more words didn't result in being more believable. Whether one listened was one matter, and whether one sincerely accepted the words was another matter altogether. Beautiful women and influential men both possessed innate advantages.

Yao Jinzhi couldn't help but feel a little dispirited when she thought about this. Why was that person able to remain truly calm and composed when he interacted with her?

From evening until the next morning, Zhu Lian continued to walk up and down the bank of Burial River, waiting for Chen Ping'an and Pei Qian to return.

All kinds of strange things had happened last night, and it had all started with the little girl, Pei Qian, spewing nonsense and claiming that there was a golden bridge above the river. Afterward, Chen Ping'an had stopped practicing standing meditation and asked him to return to the relay station with Pei Qian.

Later at night, Chen Ping'an had suddenly dived into the river, and Pei Qian had surprisingly followed after him without any hesitation at all. A whirlpool had mysteriously appeared in the river, and it had been accompanied by a wave of abundant spiritual energy, causing Zhu Lian to feel a little uncomfortable. In any case, the whirlpool had enveloped Chen Ping'an and Pei Qian before vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. Zhu Lian had only seen the hazy figure of a short woman.

During his time in this world, he had heard the others say that Parasol Leaf Continent was only one of nine continents in Majestic World.

Heaven and earth were boundlessly large.

Cultivators and immortals were profoundly powerful.

In the beginning, there had been a slight sense of despondence in Zhu Lian's mind. It was as if he were the wealthiest noble of a county city who had suddenly traveled to the capital and discovered that he couldn't afford anything at all. Thus, it was inevitable that he would feel disappointed and downcast.

However, Zhu Lian had quickly and comprehensively gotten over this. Instead of despondence, what he now felt was a surging sense of fighting spirit and ambition. Even though Zhu Lian was always smiling as he followed Chen Ping'an around and served him, this martial arts prodigy wasn't delaying his cultivation for even a second.

The three other people from the picture scrolls were no inferior to Zhu Lian. Wei Xian was carefully examining this world, observing heaven and earth from the finest of details. Sui Youbian was cultivating in seclusion and comprehending sword techniques inside her carriage, while Lu Baixiang further displayed his many talents, showing that he was masterful in all of music, Go, calligraphy, and painting.

This was the intangible yet distinct advantage of Zhu Lian, Lu Baixiang, Sui Youbian, and Wei Xian.

Chen Ping'an politely declined the water goddess' offer.

He would definitely feel worried if he didn't bring Pei Qian with him.

The water goddess didn't insist on this. However, she genuinely hadn't been joking with her offer.

She had immediately taken a fancy to Pei Qian's aptitude, so if the little girl had truly ended up staying in Green Roving Residence, then she would have genuinely given it her all to raise Pei Qian as the next water goddess. Not only that, but she would have also crafted two immortal treasures for her, two weapons specifically.

In fact, the water goddess would have even gone as far as to yield to the Great Quan Empire and Great Subduing Academy's demands in order to elevate her Green Roving Residence to Green Roving Palace. At that time, she could charge over to slay the great demon who had been causing trouble in Burial River for more than two hundred years.

Even if she died with the great demon, this would still be a huge act of virtue that benefitted the nine hundred thousand people who lived on the banks of Burial River. She could live up to the sagely principles that she had learned from the Scholarly Sage's books.

In terms of why she, a water goddess, had taken a fancy to Pei Qian at first glance... This was even more interesting and nuanced.

Having been the deity of this river for many years, the water goddess of Burial River was also someone with extremely good fortune. Otherwise, she wouldn't have comprehended the immortal mantra that was the cornerstone of that Upper Five Tier cultivator's Great Dao simply by observing that unvisited and unremarkable stone tablet.

Just then, she had carefully channeled her divine Qi-observing technique to observe Pei Qian, and she was completely shocked by what she had seen. The water goddess could already be regarded as outstanding among those who were fortunate enough to possess Golden Physiques, yet the skinny and tanned little girl standing in front of her was surprisingly even more outstanding.

Pei Qian possessed a top-notch Golden Physique that had an incredible affinity with becoming a deity. To put things simply, it would be an enormous waste of Pei Qian's Golden Physique if she didn't become a mountain goddess or a river goddess who enjoyed offerings of incense. Even sages would sigh in grief.

The so-called Golden Physique was a bit similar to the concepts of innate sword talents for sword cultivators and innate Bodhisattvas for Buddhists. People with such physiques and innate affinities would be uniquely blessed, allowing them to advance in leaps and bounds along a certain Great Dao.

Those who possessed Golden Physiques would often be short and skinny, yet their bones would be extremely tough and sturdy. There was a physiognomy technique that allowed the user to assess the strength and mass of someone's bones. Among the myriad physiques in the world, the Golden Physique would cause one to develop some of the heaviest bones.

Apart from having some of the heaviest bones, those with a Golden Physique would also possess a strong temperament, be prone to impatience, and display resoluteness when killing enemies. The last part was especially so because the metal element of the Five Elements represented coldness and killing intent. As a result, those who possessed a Golden Physique would also have innate might and dignity, so they were the perfect choices for official positions and military positions.

However, even though the water goddess' judgment was already very astute, it was still not quite good enough.

The extraordinary nature of Pei Qian's physique and talent had already surpassed the level of the Five Elements. Because of this, Zhu Lian also felt like Pei Qian was a martial arts prodigy when he looked at the little girl. In fact, while purchasing those ancient copper coins before, even Yao Jinzhi had pondered for a moment and felt like Pei Qian was perhaps a divination prodigy. The little girl could most likely achieve double the results with half the effort if she studied divination with her.

Only Noble Scholar Zhong Kui was able to see a more complete and in-depth picture.

However, it was a pity that Pei Qian had come across Chen Ping'an, a young boy who didn't explain any principles to her. In terms of martial arts or Qi refinement? Pei Qian didn't even need to dream about these things.

The mischievous little girl was traversing mountains and crossing rivers with Chen Ping'an now, and she would already be ecstatic as long as she could slap that extremely valuable talisman on her forehead, the talisman that was worth as much as a large residence. With that talisman on her forehead, even walking for a long distance wouldn't make her tired anymore.

There was always one matter to subdue another matter—the relationship between Chen Ping'an and Pei Qian was perhaps a good example of this principle.

Regardless of whether Pei Qian studied martial arts with Zhu Lian or remained in Green Roving Residence to become the next water goddess of Burial River, it would be nothing more than a dream to hope that she would feel gratitude toward Zhu Lian or the water goddess, regardless of how powerful she became thanks to their tutelage.

In fact, Pei Qian might even smack them to death if they had a serious disagreement one day. Not only that, but she would even feel that her actions were justified. If they provoked her, then would it be wrong to kill them on the spot if she were more powerful than them? What else was she supposed to do? Leave them alive to be an eyesore?

It was only when she was with Chen Ping'an that her mindset was completely different. However, Chen Ping'an was the exception rather than the norm.

Even though this was the case, neither Chen Ping'an nor Pei Qian were aware of this peculiar relationship between them.

1. This is an ancient saying, where each watch of the night refers to a period of two hours (一更). The first watch of the night refers to seven o'clock in the evening to nine o'clock and so on. There are milling people during the first watch because some people are returning home from work while some people are still working or studying. The second watch is described by flickering flames because the sky has become dark, yet people have lit candles or oil lamps because they're still studying or enjoying nighttime activities. The third watch is described by ghosts because ancient people viewed the period of midnight as the period with the strongest yin energy. The fourth watch is described by thieves because this is the time when people are most sound asleep. Thus, it's also the prime time for thieves to sneak around and steal. The fifth watch is described by roosters because this is the time when roosters call to announce the beginning of a new day. ☜