Unsheathed

Chen Ping'an and the others had initially planned to stay at an inn located at the foot of the mountain, yet the inns were unexpectedly bursting with people, and it was often the case that the inns would only have one spare room at most. However, Chen Ping'an wasn't comfortable with this, and he was worried that just Shi Rou alone wouldn't be enough to protect Pei Qian. Because of this, they had no option but to take a small immortal boat back to Azure Garb, the immortal ship hovering in the sky.

Zhu Lian asked Chen Ping'an about the mountain god temple located at the peak of the Central Mountain and how many incense offerings there were, to which Chen Ping'an replied that he hadn't entered the temple to offer incense and had only wandered around the peak of the mountain for a while. He had come across a few Daoist temples and Buddhist temples, and it was clear that they were pulling no stops to fight for worshippers.

One Daoist temple had asked a high-ranking official of the Sky Holding Nation to erect a stone tablet outside the temple gates, while a Buddhist temple had asked a renowned calligrapher to create their plaque. Apart from this, the paths leading to the Daoist temples and Buddhist temples were also paved very nicely, with trees and greenery decorating the two sides.

This was the case on one peak of the Five Mountains, so it was entirely natural that the competition for worshippers and incense offerings between the Five Mountains was even more intense. It could be said that the temples and mountains were using every possible means to win over worshippers.

There was one mountain god of the Five Mountains who frequently invited Qi refiners at the Middle Five Tiers to build thatched cottages and cultivate on his mountain. Even if the Qi refiners didn't turn up, the mountain god would be happy as long as their thatched cottages remained. As the saying went: Mountains are renowned not for their height, but for the presence of immortals living in them[1].

At the same time, this mountain god would also cordially invite scholars and literati to his mountain to enjoy the scenery and compose some works. Following this, the mountain god would then instruct people to spread the news of these events throughout the mortal empires and so on. The mountain god used a myriad of methods to promote their mountain.

It was said that a renowned scholar and official of the Sky Holding Nation posthumously referred to as the Banana Scholar had once sheltered from rain on the Southern Mountain of the nation. While staying there, he had composed an extremely popular poem that was highly regarded by the assistant mountain master of Lake View Academy and eventually added to a poetry collection. Not only that, but it was included as the last and best poem of the collection. Because of this, the mountain god temple of the Southern Mountain was still enjoying the benefits of this event even after more than one hundred years.

Chen Ping'an didn't necessarily like these business tactics that had absolutely nothing to do with immortal characteristics. However, he didn't resent these practices either.

In fact, he might even need to emulate these practices if he genuinely created his own force in his hometown of the Dragon Spring Prefecture one day.

Before the small immortal boat rose into the sky, Zhu Lian asked in a quiet voice, "Young Master, should I reveal some of my abilities? It's inevitable that some people will covet our treasures after Pei Qian obtained such a valuable chunk of lamplight rock essence."

Chen Ping'an smiled and shook his head, replying, "Firstly, we haven't gone out to create trouble with anyone. Secondly, we're not incapable of defending ourselves against ill-intentioned individuals. Moreover, does it make sense for good people to bang on drums and gongs and guard against thieves every single night? If someone genuinely barges over with ill intentions, then it won't be too late for you to get rid of an evil for the people at that time."