Unsheathed

Inside one room of the small courtyard, Shi Rou was practicing a high-grade secret technique that Cui Dongshan had taught her.

Inside another room, Chen Ping'an was practicing the Heaven and Earth Stance and walking around on his hands. In fact, he was supporting his entire body with only two fingers.

At the same time, his mind was immersed in the so-called water palace where he had refined the water seal.

According to Cui Dongshan's explanation, the jade slip from Green Roving Residence that had given rise to a peculiar phenomenon while Chen Ping'an had refined it in the sea of clouds above Old Dragon City was most likely a precious relic from an ancient dragon palace of a large river. It was extremely likely that the jade slip was an embodiment of the water fortune formed by the condensation of the water essence.

Cui Dongshan smiled and joked that the river goddess of the Burial River was quite similar to Chen Ping'an in that she was also generously parting with precious treasures. As for the characters inscribed on the jade slip, Chen Ping'an had eventually managed to comprehend them after refining the jade slip.

He had activated these characters with a single thought, causing them to transform into an army of miniature people dressed in dark green garb. They carried the jade slip on their shoulders and brought it into Chen Ping'an's water palace acupoint, also helping him paint door gods at the so-called entrance of the acupoint. At the same time, they also illustrated a large river on the walls of his acupoint, providing him with a one-in-one-thousand-year fated opportunity of the Great Dao.

Upon seeing this, even the proud and haughty Cui Dongshan had to admit that it was incredibly difficult for Chen Ping'an to refine the golden scholarly core, his future second bonded item, in the Great Sui Nation and have it become as impressive as his first bonded item. This was unless both master and disciple were able to move the heavens with their sincerity. Otherwise, Cui Dongshan couldn't help his master even if he racked his brains and came up with the best plans possible.

Chen Ping'an was naturally very open-minded about these things. It would be his fortune if he succeeded, and it would be his fate if he failed.

However, when considering these intangible gains and losses, Chen Ping'an enjoyed the four words written on one of the four plaques decorating Crab Archway the most—Refrain from looking outward.

Before praying to gods and kowtowing to Buddhas, it was best to sincerely seek improvement from within. Only after doing this should one consider the mystical and intangible notion of destiny.

Having finished the medicinal wine in his Sword Nurturing Gourd and having also nursed himself the entire time while traveling to the capital of the Azure Phoenix Nation, Chen Ping'an had now passed the halfway mark of making a full recovery. His martial arts cultivation base had recovered to a level that was similar to his level in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land when he had battled against Ding Ying.