Unsheathed

Chapter 369 (3): Farewells

Chapter 369 (3): Farewells

Instead of answering Chen Ping'an's question, Zheng Dafeng raised one of his own.

"You don’t know how gold essence copper coins are forged, right? The primary material required to craft them is the fragments of shattered godly bodies of mountain and river gods. The secondary materials are just as difficult to obtain, and the end result are the three types of gold essence copper coins, Good Fortune Coins, Greeting Spring Coins, and Offering Coins.

"The fortune of the Great Li Empire has always been quite stable, and illegitimate temples have always been extremely rare, and that's why gold essence copper coins are particularly expensive to purchase. In contrast, it can be very cheap to purchase godly body fragments from other places.

"Many immortal sects and clans will actively hunt down illegitimate mountain and river gods, and if there aren't enough illegitimate temples for them to eradicate, then they'll pressure some mortal empires into stripping some legitimate mountain and river gods of their official titles, thereby giving them an illegitimate status so that they can be hunted down.

"Even if certain mortal empires are unwilling to comply, there are still ways to secure godly body fragments. For example, some immortal powers will hire some itinerant cultivators to do their dirty work for them, rewarding them with some mediocre immortal techniques and treasures in exchange for godly body fragments.

"The cost required to produce a gold essence copper coin through such underhanded means may not even be worth as much as a single grain rain coin, but if the emperor of the Great Li Empire were to purchase gold essence copper coins from the outside world, then a single one could set him back as many as seven or eight grain rain coins."

"Are there currently any more gold essence copper coins left in the world?" Chen Ping'an asked.

"That's hard to say," Zheng Dafeng replied. "If anyone were to go around buying gold essence copper coins now, it would immediately be apparent that it's an integral item for their cultivation, so any prospective sellers would be sure to raise their prices to unprecedented heights."

Chen Ping'an heaved a faint sigh as he massaged his own temples. He was one of the few people in this day and age who still needed gold essence copper coins. Worse still, he didn't just need a few; even a few pouches wouldn't necessarily be enough to satisfy his needs.

The lives of the four picture scroll martial artists, the repairs and enhancements that had to be made on the Golden Sweet Wine robe, and the future refinement of his metal-attribute bonded item were all going to require large numbers of gold essence copper coins, fulfilling a similar function to that of the jade slip in the refinement of the water seal.

"Quit looking so sad! You need to bid farewell to this year with a smile on your face," Zheng Dafeng scolded.

Chen Ping'an smiled and nodded in response.

Even though this was the final day of the year, there was still no end in sight to the suffering of Parasol Leaf Sect, much to the despair of its disciples.

Zuo You was still roaming through the sect, easily destroying all of the mountain and river fortune that he encountered with his unmatched sword qi.

Wreaking destruction was a very simple matter, but it was extremely difficult for all of the Golden Core and Nascent Tier cultivators trailing along behind him to gather the scattered spiritual energy and repair the damage that he had done.

Only by sacrificing their own cultivation bases could they slightly speed up the recovery process, thereby preventing the spiritual energy from seeping out of the sect. However, if these all-important earth immortals were to sacrifice too much of their cultivation base, then that would also negatively impact the foundation of the sect.

Parasol Leaf Sect was once a blessed land with the most abundant spiritual energy on the entire continent not too long ago. But as Zuo You continued to make the sect suffer the consequences of Du Mao's actions, even the lowliest of disciples in the sect had come to realize that Parasol Leaf Sect was facing the most dire crisis in its entire history.

What was most perplexing to them was that Du Mao, who was considered a god in the sect, hadn't appeared even once to confront Zuo You. Up to this point, the only action that had been taken against him was that assassination attempt and the time that the sect leader had approached him to try and deescalate the situation.

This was nothing short of a calamity for the sect, yet Du Mao, the most powerful Qi refiner on the entire continent, seemed to be determined to turn a blind eye.

However, the vast majority of Qi refiners on Parasol Leaf Continent were still of the opinion that as soon as Du Mao made an appearance, he would be able to crush Zuo You with ease, so in their eyes, Zuo You's days were numbered.

Almost all of the major cultivating powers, empires, and powerful clans on Parasol Leaf Continent were keeping a close eye on the unfolding situation in Parasol Leaf Sect.

Following Jiang Shangzhen's visit, more and more earth immortals had begun arriving at Parasol Leaf Sect, doing their best to conceal their own auras while observing the unfolding scene from afar.

They were all unleashing their immortal abilities to examine the changing fortunes of Parasol Leaf Sect, and initially, no one dared to believe that a single swordsman would be able to inflict such severe wounds on the monolithic beast that was Parasol Leaf Sect.

In a battle between two empires in the mortal world, if one side were to suffer as much damage as Parasol Leaf Sect already had, then that could already be considered a crushing defeat.

This entire time, Zuo You didn't take a single life. In fact, he barely even used his sword unless it was to break through barriers or strike down certain obstacles.

However, it was apparent to everyone that the disciples of Parasol Leaf Sect were having their spirits crushed more and more by the day.

Over the past one thousand years, all of the disciples of Parasol Leaf Sect had a sense of unmatched confidence that bolstered their Dao Hearts. This confidence stemmed from the untouchable position that the sect had established for itself over its long history, and that was why the disciples of Parasol Leaf Sect were able to make far faster progress in their cultivation compared with other Qi refiners.

If a disciple of Parasol Leaf Sect ever encountered an opponent that they couldn't defeat, then all they had to do was declare that they were from Parasol Leaf Sect, and they would be able to insult their opponent to their heart's content without any fear of retaliation.

If any Parasol Leaf Sect disciple were ever wronged by someone else, then their fellow disciples would immediately band together to confront the culprits and claim their heads without any qualms.

Even though it was still technically a Qi refiner's Golden Dao Manifestation, it was giving off radiant five-colored light. The Golden Dao Manifestation reached up into the sky with both hands, then abruptly brought his hands apart outward, as if it were tearing apart the very heavens of the Majestic World.

A massive rift appeared in the sky, within which arcs of purple lightning were flashing incessantly, and a series of mountainous figures flashed past in an instant. There was what appeared to be a skeletal flood dragon soaring through the purple lightning, a giant set of golden remains that was seated with its legs crossed, a giant red claw attempting to tear the rift in the sky open even wider...

All of them were horrific sights that couldn't be seen anywhere in the Majestic World.

Zuo You was holding his sword in one hand while his other hand was clasped behind his back as he slowly rose up into the air.

Compared with this Golden Dao Manifestation, which Du Mao had attained at the cost of his own physical body and the near-boundless spiritual energy of an entire small world, Zuo You was made to appear no more significant than a speck of dust.

After rising up into the sky, he slashed his sword horizontally through the air in a slow and languid fashion, and that was all.

Zuo You had always been of the opinion that there were only two swords that stood at the pinnacle in this world. One of those swords was the one that the scholar on Middle Earth Divine Continent had used to slice Yellow River Small World apart, while the second sword was the one in his own scabbard.

The giant Golden Dao Manifestation had risen tens of thousands of meters up into the air, but right at this moment, a barely visible white line, as thin as a strand of hair, appeared along its waist.

As it drew closer and closer to the heavens, it was separated into two parts. Its upper body was still ascending further with a look of fury and indignation in its eyes, attempting to grab onto the edges of the rift in the sky to force its way up into the heavens, while its lower body shattered into pieces.

The tremendous spiritual energy that it contained returned to heaven and earth, while around a dozen or so five-colored fragments came flying down in all directions to serve as fated opportunities for others on their cultivation journeys.

Zuo You's sword had already returned to its scabbard, while the Golden Dao Manifestation's upper body fell back down to earth in a defeated manner.

It was like a resplendent shooting star that was dissipating in the sky.

Zuo You took a glance at the rift in the sky, then turned and sped toward the vast sea between Parasol Leaf Continent and Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

Not long after flying out to sea, he stopped in his tracks.

"Why didn't you ascend?" the Scholarly Sage asked.

Zuo You offered no response.

The two of them were separated by only a few meters, and the Scholarly Sage pointed up at the rift in the sky that Du Mao had forcibly torn open as he yelled in a furious voice, "Why didn't you take this opportunity to leave this world?! Do you really want to die here?!"

Zuo You lowered his head and offered no response.

This time, the Scholarly Sage didn't jump up to slap him on the head. Instead, a sullen look appeared on his face as he sighed, "Go. I know you've always wanted to go to Stalactite Mountain and the Sword Qi Great Wall. Go on then. If you're determined to make me sad, then there's nothing I can do to stop you."

"Disciple Zuo You bids farewell to his teacher!" Zuo You declared as he extended a deep bow.

The Scholarly Sage gave him a dismissive wave, unable to muster up another word.

Zuo You turned to depart, but instead of flying away, he walked away one step at a time, as if he were reluctant to part with his teacher.

"You accepted a great disciple in my junior brother, Teacher," Zuo You said.

"Get out of here!" the Scholarly Sage snapped, then turned around as well.

The two of them had their backs facing each other, and one remained standing on the spot, while the other continued to walk away.

All of a sudden, the Scholarly Sage began scratching his own head as some distant memories surfaced in his mind. Back then, he was still just an impoverished, no-name scholar. His first disciple, Cui Chan, was from a wealthy clan, but he remained an impoverished scholar even after taking Cui Chan under his wing. His second and third disciples weren't terribly wealthy.

At the time, his three disciples had gotten along quite well, and those were the happiest days that he had spent with them, but after that, all of them grew up one by one.

"I've never told you this, Zuo You, but compared with your swordsmanship, I think you're an even better scholar," the Scholarly Sage said in a quiet voice.

Zuo You continued to walk away without pause as he replied, "It's all because you taught me well, Teacher."