Unsheathed

When flying back on Sword Immortal, Chen Ping'an purposely flew at a slightly higher altitude than when he had pursued Fan Yunluo just then. Sure enough, the Golden Core Tier ghost, who was an unofficial member of White Cage City, quickly turned around and left.

It wasn't that Chen Ping'an didn't want to make some small sacrifices to wipe out Meticulous Skin City or at the very least, challenge it intermittently. According to his original plans, the yin entities that wandered around the southern region of Malicious Ghost Valley were his best training targets as he made his way to Green Cottage Town.

However, the sudden appearance of City Lord Pu Rang of White Cage City caused Chen Ping'an to change his mind. The Be At Ease Compilation was filled with minor details about this heroic spirit, so much so that it was almost cumbersome to read. Innumerable matters pertaining to this city lord were recorded, and the author hadn't attempted to save any ink. In fact, Chen Ping'an was almost led to believe that the author of the Be At Ease Compilation was an admirer of City Lord Pu Rang.

The beautiful words of praise in the book were seemingly exuding a sanguine aura, yet this hadn't affected Chen Ping'an's decision in the least. Rather, the true reason behind Chen Ping'an's decision to relent was one simple fact — this city lord was at the peak stage of the Nascent Tier.

Since City Lord Pu Rang had ultimately chosen to personally appear in front of Chen Ping'an but not attack him, Chen Ping'an was willing to follow suit and also take a step back.

Chen Ping'an looked at the jade-like skeletons strewn across the ground of the dense forest. There were more than a dozen sets of skeletons, with all of them being victims of Sword Immortal, First, and Fifteenth. The souls of these female ghosts from Meticulous Skin City had vanished long ago, transforming into the fundamental yin energy of this mystical realm.

Chen Ping'an was just about to place these skeletons inside his minimization treasure, yet he suddenly frowned and jumped onto Sword Immortal, preparing to leave this place straight away. After some brief contemplation, however, he decided to pause for a moment and collect the large majority of skeletons, leaving just six or seven sets on the ground. Only after doing this did he rapidly leave Crow Peak on his sword.

Chen Ping'an breathed a sigh of relief when he stood at a distance and looked at the two figures on the small and winding path. However, he was still a little worried, so he returned Sword Immortal to the scabbard on his back and put on his bamboo hat again, descending to the ground in a secluded area before returning to the small path and quietly waiting for the Dao partners to draw near.

The Dao partners also saw Chen Ping'an, and just like before, they planned to take a detour around the small path and pretend to look for some medicinal herbs and stones that could be exchanged for money. However, they discovered that the young wanderer only took off his bamboo hat but showed no signs of moving over.

The Dao partners exchanged a helpless glance, and they were left with no choice but to summon their courage and return to the small path, with the man walking in front and the woman walking behind him. If this were a blessing, then it wouldn't be a misfortune; if this were a misfortune, then it couldn't be avoided. They silently prayed for the protection of the Three Pure Ones as they walked toward Chen Ping'an.

After the Dao partners drew closer, Chen Ping'an held his bamboo hat with one hand and pointed at the dense forest behind him with his other hand, saying, "I had a violent struggle with a group of malicious ghosts at Crow Peak just then, and even though I achieved a narrow victory, a large number of malicious ghosts still managed to flee. This has caused deadly hostility between us, so further battles will be inevitable in the future. If the two of you aren't afraid of being detrimentally affected by me and want to continue north, then please make sure to be extra careful."

The Dao partners had aggrieved expressions as they exchanged another glance with each other.