Unsheathed

Afterward, the three of them came across a famous landmark that was filled with immortal aura. This was a deep pool with no owner, and the pool already radiated with the biting cold of mid-winter even though it was only the beginning of autumn. There were vermilion characters engraved on the cliff face behind the pool, and the origin of these engravings couldn't be found, not even in the Local County Chronicles. The engraving read: On an ancient wall the colorful illustration of a dragon's tail shimmers gold, riding upon it a rain god charges into the autumn pool.[1]

Chen Ping'an and the others looked up, and they could indeed see some hints of a colorful painting that vaguely resembled a flood dragon. At the same time, they couldn't see a single fish in the emerald green water beside their feet.

Chen Ping'an retracted his gaze and placed a hand in the pool water. There was a cool sensation, and Chen Ping'an was involuntarily reminded of Ruan Qiong's blacksmith shop that was constructed on the bank of the river in his hometown due to the strong yin energy of the Dragon Whisker River. The deep pool in front of him was also suitable for tempering sword blades, yet no sword cultivator had built a thatched cottage here to cultivate for some unknown reason.

Chen Ping'an hurriedly retracted his hand all of a sudden. As it turned out, the chilly yin energy of the deep pool wasn't pure at all. Instead, it contained a strong and sinister yin aura, one that appeared like a ball of utter confusion. Even though this aura wouldn't harm one's body straight away, it was a far cry from being pure and clean. It was no wonder that there was no one tempering their sword here. This sinister aura was a huge taboo for sword cultivators.

There were presumably some interesting historical stories about this place.

This place was perhaps similar to the Parasol Leaf Continent's Flying Eagle Fortress and Ascending Sun Platform.

Afterward, Chen Ping'an and his two companions passed many villages and cities as they traveled around the Plum Glaze Nation. There were little children who were apprehensive of the mighty horses that they had seldom seen before, causing them to run away and hide in the depths of the trees and flowers. They occasionally came across unremarkable vagrant cultivators as well, and they also came across large envoys of exuberant people beating drums and striking gongs as the groom traveled over to pick up the bride.

They traversed mountains and crossed rivers as they traveled thousands of kilometers, and they inadvertently came across the remnants of a barren grave hidden among the long grass. They found the hilt of an ancient sword embedded in the tombstone, and the sword hilt still radiated with piercing sword qi even though it had already been left here for hundreds upon thousands of years.

The sword hilt was clearly an impressive spirit tool, yet it was already on the verge of crumbling apart due to the lack of care and nurturing over the many years. Ma Duyi wanted to grab the sword hilt and take the sword away, what with it being an ownerless item stuck in the tombstone. After all, she might be able to fetch a good price for it after she repaired and tempered it for a while. However, Chen Ping'an didn't agree, saying that this was an immortal tool used by a Daoist priest to stabilize the feng shui of this area. It was because of this sword hilt that the murderous aura of this area was suppressed, preventing it from seeping into the surrounding areas and wreaking havoc.

Ma Duyi was a yin entity, so how could she not notice this? It was simply the case that she didn't care. She smiled and said, "Let's pull out the ancient sword first. If there's truly a demon or evil spirit suppressed in the tombstone, and if it truly jumps out to cause trouble, then we can also take this opportunity to subdue demons and eliminate fiends. We'll obtain both a spirit tool and hidden virtue, so won't we be hitting two birds with one stone?"

Chen Ping'an shook his head and replied, "This pertains to ancient matters with complicated relationships, so how can we be so sure that there aren't any hidden grievances and complexities?"