Unsheathed

"It's your turn to make a choice again," Chen Ping'an said. "You can kill me, but the spiritual energy of Bamboo Scroll Lake will be sucked dry into this jade tablet that you don't dare to take. Even if you take it, you won't be able to activate or deactivate it. You can beat me half-dead, but I'll absorb half the spiritual energy and water fortune of Bamboo Scroll Lake if you do that. Finally, we can each take a step back and negotiate normally, striving to maximize the benefits for each party.

"However, the condition is that you allow me to leave Palace Willow Island and place restrictions on the jade tablet after I safely return to Cyan Gorge Island. That way, the jade tablet will automatically activate if I'm killed. When all of that is done, we can sit down again to negotiate, and it doesn't matter whether that's at Cyan Gorge Island or Palace Willow Island."

Liu Laocheng smiled in ridicule and scoffed, "Do you genuinely think I believe you when you say you have the ability to control this jade tablet?"

With a single thought, Chen Ping'an caused the jade tablet in his hand to gradually slow down its speed of absorbing spiritual energy, no longer causing spiritual energy to funnel toward him like howling wind and rushing clouds. This caused all of the confused vagrant cultivators in a fifty kilometer radius of Palace Willow Island to feel utterly terrified, mistakenly thinking that Liu Laocheng was about to advance to the Immortal Tier and thus planning to wantonly absorb the water fortune of Bamboo Scroll Lake and leave the other vagrant cultivators for dead.

Liu Laocheng smiled and said, "Chen Ping'an, you truly are ruthless. I hunt eagles all year long, yet I was almost blinded by the beak of an eagle just now."

He then waved a hand and said in agreement, "We'll have another meeting after you return to Cyan Gorge Island and finish dealing with your matter."

However, Chen Ping'an made another request, saying, "I feel like Island Master Liu should accompany me to Cyan Gorge Island, or else I'm afraid that Island Master Liu might have secretly paid a visit to Cyan Gorge Island before I arrive. At that time, would Liu Zhimao still dare to activate the formation of Cyan Gorge Island to conceal my secrets for me? Would he still dare to obstruct you, an Unpolished Jade Tier immortal, from using your mystical observation techniques to see whether or not I truly possess the ability to control the activation of this jade tablet with my life and death?"

Liu Laocheng clicked his tongue in wonder and remarked, "You truly are cautious. No wonder you've managed to live until today. However, aren't you admitting to not possessing the necessary ability by doing this? Otherwise, why would you be worried about me using a mystical observation technique to confirm your capabilities?"

Chen Ping'an smiled and replied, "The more related to the Great Dao something is, the more one should gamble on the possibility. This is something that Island Master Liu also alluded to before. What if I truly give Island Master Liu a huge and unexpected surprise in the off-chance that I actually die?"

Liu Zhimao clapped and laughed loudly, replying, "Even though I'm almost certain that you're bluffing and don't possess the necessary ability, this doesn't matter. I'm willing to personally accompany you back to Cyan Gorge Island. When we arrive at Cyan Gorge Island, you should do two things. Use the two small items that you stole or snatched from whatever place to deliver a message to Liu Zhimao before we arrive. Tell him to activate the mountain and water formation, and you can make up whatever reason you want. If you can't think of anything, I can even help you think up an excuse, lest he be too cowardly to even activate the formation. The second task is for you to visit the Vermilion Chord Residence and bring Hong Su to someplace near the island entrance. I want to see her."

Chen Ping'an asked in a serious voice, "What if you've been lying to me this entire time and you actually don't want to kill Hong Su? Yet, after you see her slightly close relationship with me, you become jealous and end up wanting to make me suffer a little? What should I do then? It's not like I can get angry and activate the jade tablet because of this, and I'm even more unable to reason with you and ask for justice."