Unsheathed

Zhu Lian suddenly recalled the young immortal with a red birthmark on his glabella for no apparent reason. Before their first sparring sessions, Cui Dongshan had stated that he was very ticked off when he looked at Zhu Lian's outwardly cheery yet inwardly calculating demeanor. Cui Dongshan had promised that he wouldn't move his arms or legs when they sparred, and he would allow Zhu Lian to punch and kick him as he pleased. Moreover, it would count as his loss if he so much as furrowed his brow.

In the end, Zhu Lian was taught a lesson on why Cui Dongshan was referred to as the Myriad Treasure Immortal in the Great Sui Nation's Mountain Cliff Academy. He was also made aware of how Cui Dongshan had won the nickname of Cai Clan's Ancestor after a single battle in the capital.

Zhu Lian smiled and said, "Master, your disciple Cui Dongshan is truly a remarkable person. He's truly mysterious and ingenious."

"Each person understands their own joys and sorrows. I can explain the gratitudes and grudges to you if the opportunity arises in the future," Chen Ping'an replied in a helpless voice.

Pei Qian was still sulking after Zhu Lian left.

"What, was lunch so spicy you've developed a hot temper?" Chen Ping'an asked with a chuckle.

Pei Qian lowered her head and didn't say anything.

Chen Ping'an thought she was experiencing the random mood swings of a child her age, so he didn't pay too much attention and continued to read the Legalist classic on the table.

Early the next day, Chen Ping'an had Sword Immortal and the bamboo bookcase on his back, while Pei Qian had a luggage sack slung diagonally across her back, a hiking pole in her hand, and a saber and a sword hanging by her hip. Together with Zhu Lian and Shi Rou, they left the immortal inn and set off for the capital of the Azure Phoenix Nation. Of course, there was also the little lotus spirit who could freely travel through the ground.

They were still traveling on foot in a seemingly impoverished manner, by now a well-established and unspoken rule for Chen Ping'an and his companions.

Pei Qian was wearing a wreath made or willow branches on her head, and she told Chen Ping'an that Cui Dongshan had taught her how to draw a golden circle on the ground with her hiking pole, using this circle as a perimeter to scare spirits and ghosts from the mountains and waters away. However, this immortal technique was far too difficult to learn, and she was still yet to even understand the basics of it.