Unsheathed

A row of antique display shelves had been placed on the first floor of the bamboo building. The wooden shelves were simple yet elegant, and they had many grids, but not many of them were occupied by treasures.

Chen Ping'an was just about to pull some items out of his pocket treasure and minimization treasure to fill more of the grids when he suddenly found himself at a slight loss.

Over the course of his long journeys, he had witnessed and possessed many fine treasures, but aside from what had been bestowed upon him by Lu Tai from the Planchette Writing Sect's Sky Calling Street, the gifts from Wu Yi at the Purple Sun Residence, the portrait of the woman that he had purchased himself on Ape Crying Street of Pond Water City, and the few items that had been given to him by the old shopkeeper as a bonus, there weren't many noteworthy items left.

It seemed that he was not as wealthy as he had imagined. All of the treasures that had once been in his possession were like lotus pads drifting through a stream, disappearing downstream before he had even realized they were gone.

Chen Ping'an was reminded of the Staying Pass on the border between the Stone Brush Nation and the Plum Glaze Nation. Despite its name, nothing seemed to have stayed for him.

Some of his treasures had been lent to other people, such as the West Mountain armor pellet that had been lent to Wei Xian, the Halting Snow saber that had been lent to Lu Baixiang, the Deep Infatuation sword that had been lent to Sui Youbian, the "nourishing the noble spirit" jade tablet that had been lent to Wei Bo, and the Hall of the Underworld and the Colored Glaze Pagoda replica that had been lent to Gu Can.

There were even more treasures that he had given away outright, such as the Colorful Garment Nation Blusher Prefecture City God Protection Seal. Everyone on Downtrodden Mountain and all of the children in Mountain Cliff Academy had received gifts from Chen Ping'an at one point or another.

Setting aside all these friends and acquaintances, Chen Ping'an had even given out a lesser heat coin in that dog meat shop in the Stone Brush Nation, and back in the forest on the bank of the Spring Flower River in the Plum Glaze Nation, he had given out both money and medicine. Even earlier than that, he had fed that adolescent flood dragon in the water countless snake gall pebbles back on Osmanthus Island.

"Generosity feels good at the time, but regret is sure to follow," Chen Ping'an sighed to himself in a self-deprecating manner.

The little lotus spirit had been resting on the table, but after hearing what Chen Ping'an had to say, it immediately burst into laughter, laying back onto the table as it pounded its own belly vigorously with its little arm in amusement.

Chen Ping'an's mood was lifted by its energetic and adorable display.