Unsheathed

Chapter 375 (2): Untamed Vagrant Cultivators

Chapter 375 (2): Untamed Vagrant Cultivators

The Golden Core Tier earth immortal hovering in midair surprisingly didn't use his mind's voice to communicate with the twenty or so vagrant cultivators. With mountain mist concealing his appearance, the earth immortal instead looked at Chen Ping'an and directly asked, "Are you intent on stopping us from obtaining these treasures? If you and your companions are willing to retreat from this mountain pass and not interfere with our plans, then after we defeat this earth bull, I can give you ten percent of my share of treasures. I'll convert them into snowflake coins and personally hand them to you afterward."

After hearing the explanation from Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia, Chen Ping'an was roughly aware of the situation here already.

Even though the earth bull collapsed in blood behind Chen Ping'an was indeed a demon, it was an innately gentle type of demon, and the so-called calamity caused by earth bulls twisting and turning that people talked about had absolutely nothing to do with it.

The earth bull had remained hidden in this mountain pass for more than two hundred years, and its intention was actually to repair the shattered dragon vein such that it could use it as a residence in the future. In all these years, the earth bull had actually been lying on the mountain pass in its true form, appearing like a mountain range with many cliffs. Moreover, this not-really-mountain-range was filled with lush greenery from the get-go.

Genuine cases of earth bulls turning their bodies were caused by Ao, mole crickets, earthworms, and giant toads that slumbered under the ground.[1] These mountain spirits and water beasts preferred quiet over commotion, and relying on their innate abilities, they liked to link their gigantic bodies with the surrounding mountains to slowly absorb the spiritual energy of the earth. These spirits and beasts were afraid of spring thunder.

Once these spirits and beasts advanced to the Abode Tier of the Middle Five Tiers, or when they were about to form a golden core, they would need to absorb an exorbitant amount of spiritual energy. However, because they slumbered underground most of the time and absorbed the fortune of the mountains, their advance in cultivation base would pertain to the fated opportunities of the Great Dao and cause them to unleash their ferocious nature as spirits and beasts. It was because of this that there were stories about earth bulls turning their bodies and Ao turning their backs, events that would bring tragedy to the mortal world.

In reality, Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia had also been asked to participate in the battle against the earth bull in the beginning. However, even though Zhang Shanfeng's cultivation base wasn't especially high, he was incredibly knowledgeable about the origin of many mountain spirits and water beasts. He was well aware of the origin and gentle nature of earth bulls, so he turned down the earth immortal's invitation to suppress and kill the great demon together.

The truly troublesome aspect of things was the possibility that the earth bull was at the Dragon Gate Tier, only a step away from forming a golden core. Zhang Shanfeng understood that even clay Bodhisattva statues would also have a temper if they were hunted and provoked; even honest and friendly people would flare up in rage if they were continually targeted. Would a literal demon not be the same?

Thus, Zhang Shanfeng was afraid that the earth bull would trigger violent reactions from the earth veins when it reached the brink of death. If that happened, they would truly witness a colossal earth bull turning its body. This would cause earthquakes to tear through an area at least five hundred kilometers in radius, and tens of thousands of innocent people in the two nearby prefectures could die without knowing why.

Xu Yuanxia had traveled all around the world, so he was relatively experienced when it came to many things. However, he didn't utter any righteous words to persuade the vagrant cultivators against killing the earth bull. Instead, he simply explained the potential consequences and dangers that would be brought about by doing so.

He hoped that the Abode Tier cultivator who had tried to recruit them could speak to the mastermind behind this and ask them to spend some extra silver to recruit a few additional formation cultivators. That way, they could minimize the impact of the earth bull turning its body. At the very least, they could prevent tens of thousands of innocent people from being needlessly killed, injured, or forced to flee. They could view this as an act of spending money to gain virtue.

The Abode Tier cultivator patted his chest and promised that he would definitely deliver this message.

Xu Yuanxia played dumb and made some small talk with the Abode Tier cultivator, after which he and Zhang Shanfeng secretly followed him to check on the situation. And when they discovered only a single formation cultivator among the twenty or so working for the Golden Core Tier cultivator, they knew that this would definitely result in a huge disaster.

After some discussion, Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia decided to split up to complete two different tasks. Xu Yuanxia went to the nearest force in the mountains and clearly explained the situation. He didn't wish for the official immortals to block the earth immortal and fall foul of him; he simply wished that they could either put on some pressure or make some preparations to suppress the imminent massive earthquake.

Because Zhang Shanfeng had a proper position as a Daoist priest from Complete Reed Continent's branch of Mount Longhu, he went to the government office and met with a local governor, expressing his hope that the imperial court of Azure Phoenix Nation could give some importance to this matter. It would be best if the emperor could dispatch a guest elder to oversee the situation. In fact, it would even be fine if Azure Phoenix Nation provided reinforcements to the earth immortal as a way of trying to win him over. In any case, the most critical thing would be making haste and setting up several large formations near the hiding place of the earth bull.

The local governor was a relatively easy-going person, and he agreed to immediately report this matter to the imperial court. He would seek help from the immortal clan in his jurisdiction and try to deliver the message as quickly as possible using a flying sword.

However, the man was extremely pragmatic and shrewd, and he asked Zhang Shanfeng to hand over two valuable items. Otherwise, how would he explain things to the emperor and the cultivators from the mountains if this was a false alarm or if Zhang Shanfeng was simply making things up?

Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia both felt like this was a reasonable request, so they had handed over the Dao sword True Martial, as well as a short saber obtained from Colorful Garment Nation.

And as a result of their hard work, they were now stuck in a dilemma.

They couldn't convince the vagrant cultivators through reason. These people pursued nothing but material benefits, and this was seemingly the most natural reason for them. Just like the earth immortal said, the actions of Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia amounted to nothing more than stopping them from obtaining treasures. In the eyes of vagrant cultivators, this was something that ought to elicit fury from both gods and humans alike.

Naturally, they had their own share of reason. They were encircling and killing a demon in this desolate place without so much as a single person. They weren't killing people and stealing goods in the cities, nor were they using immortal techniques and immortal treasures to harm mortal people. This was no different from how official immortals went about their business—it was a clean and just way to seek wealth. So what the hell did these people want from them?

The young Daoist priest with no facial hair and the martial artist with quite a big beard were claiming that the earth bull being attacked would impact the earth veins and trigger an earthquake that affected an area five hundred kilometers in radius, but just who in the hell were they?

Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia sneaked over here and personally witnessed the earth bull shaking countless rocks and trees from its back. The earth bull was an extremely gentle great demon, and it initially wanted to flee when facing the twenty or so vagrant cultivators. It battled while fleeing, yet it was still hunted down and severely wounded. Only then did it start to counterattack, leading to a colossal battle between the two sides.

In the end, Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia had no option but to step forward and defend the earth bull. If the earth bull became so severely wounded that it was forced to reveal its true form, which was only as big as a normal bull, then things would truly reach the point of no return, and it would risk its life to unleash its most powerful attack.

The demon collapsed in a pool of blood debated with itself for a while when it saw the two people not attacking it but risking their lives to help it. Even though it was roughly aware of their intentions—it wasn't that they cared for its well-being, but that they were afraid that it would trigger an earthquake and bring calamity to everything around it—it eventually decided against seeking mutual destruction. It surprisingly remained still and allowed its vitality to flow away just like that.

Chen Ping'an looked at Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia.

The group of vagrant cultivators didn't use their full strength and try to kill the two people, most likely because they were already on the cusp of victory.

Zhang Shanfeng, had suffered some external wounds, and blood was flowing from his shoulder pierced by the sword cultivator's flying sword. He had applied some medicine, but it barely made a difference. The wound had most likely reached his tendons and bones. He had been struck by a bonded flying sword, after all, a weapon that was far more than just sharp.

The earth immortal frowned and flicked his sleeve, causing the forty-five lesser heat coins to slow down and circle around him like a small stream. The lesser heat coins hovered three meters away, and he didn't allow them to get any closer. He carefully observed each coin one by one, and he determined that the young sword cultivator hadn't tampered with any of them. They were genuine lesser heat coins.

Lü Yangzhen and the other vagrant cultivators were both envious and puzzled.

Such kind of business transaction existed in the world?

The earth immortal didn't accept the lesser heat coins straight away—forty-five immortal coins that were equivalent to 4.5 million taels of silver in the mortal world. Disregarding Azure Phoenix Nation, which was renowned for its wealth in the southeastern region of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, just how much money did the imperial court of Fortune Mountain Nation receive in tax each year? These coins amounted to a colossal sum that even an earth immortal couldn't view as trivial.

He continued to examine the lesser heat coins that were slowly circling around him as he asked, "Dare I ask, Young Master, where is your immortal hometown?"

Chen Ping'an smiled and replied, "I asked you the same question before, but didn't you refuse to answer?"

The earth immortal smiled faintly and asked, "Then dare I ask, Young Master, is it out of desperation that you're spending money to purchase this earth bull?"

"There's no need for you to worry about these things, Senior" Chen Ping'an replied.

After thinking for a moment, he retrieved another five lesser heat coins and tossed them toward the earth immortal, saying, "Please distribute these five lesser heat coins among the remaining esteemed immortals. Treat this as my apology for taking the earth bull even though I've arrived later."

The expressions of the vagrant cultivators improved significantly when they heard this.

After all, they were getting five lesser heat coins for doing nothing. There were four alliances of varying sizes among twenty or so cultivators, and the smallest alliance only had three people, Lü Yangzhen and the two siblings. Meanwhile, the alliance led by the elder in black sitting atop the giant black fox was the strongest, both in terms of number and power. Thus, they could potentially obtain two of the five lesser heat coins that had essentially fallen from the sky.

The earth immortal smiled and remarked, "Such impressive wealth and resolve, Young Master. To give away lesser heat coins as if they were snowflake coins... I must concede my inferiority to you in this regard."

After he said this...

The greed of the vagrant cultivators immediately became stirred again.

The words of the earth immortal resonated with them far too strongly. These vagrant cultivators essentially had their heads tied to their waists with the way they fought with their lives on the line, yet just how many lesser heat coins could they make each year?

"I've spoken in a friendly manner and I've also offered some immortal coins in goodwill, so now it's time for us to engage in some proper discussions."

Chen Ping'an looked around before continuing in a calm voice, "Money doesn't fall from the sky in this world. I do indeed have some lesser heat coins left on me, so if any of you covet them, you can rely on your abilities to try to obtain them. If you can't defeat me, however, then I will kindly ask for your life in exchange."

The earth immortal immediately put away the fifty lesser heat coins and asked with a smile, "Aren't you afraid that I'll run away and leave you with a mess to clean up? I can't carry this earth bull on my back and wander through the streets, but taking these fifty lesser heat coins with me will be as easy as can be."

He looked at Chen Ping'an and continued, "Aren't you afraid that I'll use these fifty lesser heat coins to buy your life? With this back and forth, everyone including me would have earned two times the initial amount of money. Why would we not do this?"

Chen Ping'an extended a hand and gestured for the earth immortal to leave, saying, "Well, sure, please feel free to leave. You can do whatever you want as long as it makes you happy."

You've been pissing me off for a while now, so I really beg you to run away or attack. That way, I'll have a good excuse to kill you.

The earth immortal fell silent, as if he was weighing up the pros and cons.

Meanwhile, all of the vagrant cultivators were waiting for him to make a decision.

At this moment, the severely wounded earth bull suddenly looked up at the back of the young sword cultivator in white and asked in the human tongue, "Esteemed immortal, why are you going to such lengths for me?"

Chen Ping'an didn't turn around to face it.

He placed a hand on his Sword Nurturing Gourd as he replied softly, "I feel that you're more human-like than many humans. It's that simple. From today onward, I hope that you can continue to cultivate earnestly. That way, the world can gain another kind-hearted cultivator in the future."

1. Ao is a mythical creature with a dragon head and fish body. ☜

2. Note that East Asian age (虚岁) is used here, so Chen Ping'an is sixteen by Western counting. Using the Chinese style of age counting, a person is one year old as soon as they're born. ☜