Unsheathed

Chen Ping'an made his way to the fire god shrine. The city god temple was not yet showing signs of collapse, and it could presumably maintain its current state for a decent period of time.

The fire god shrine also enjoyed abundant incense offerings, but compared to the chaotic scenes surrounding the city god temple, the incense smoke here appeared much purer and stabler as it gathered and dispersed in an orderly manner.

Just like before, Chen Ping'an didn't enter the fire god shrine either. He was able to use his fist intent to suppress his peculiar aura now, but he wasn't sure about whether he would be able to avoid unwanted attention if he were to set foot inside these temples and shrines. If it weren't for his trip to the southeastern region of the Northern Complete Reed Continent being too hasty, Chen Ping'an had initially planned to finish traveling around the water god temple on the bank of Skeleton Shoal's Swaying River first. Afterward, he would have traveled to several large temples and shrines of a few mortal nations to personally gauge the traditions and customs of the continent.

After all, the owner of the river god temple on the bank of the Swaying River was neighbors with the Flax Robe Sect, so with their lofty gaze, they potentially wouldn't care about Chen Ping'an entering the temple to offer incense. The river god not granting him an audience wouldn't signify anything one way or another.

However, the river god at the southernmost point of the continent hadn't appeared in his shrine, and he had instead pretended to be a boatman holding a bamboo pole. He had most likely wanted to kindly provide some advice to Chen Ping'an.

Chen Ping'an wandered around the incense shops near the fire god shrine and asked about the origin and history of this deity.

There was one aspect of the fire god shrine that was similar to the city god temple, and just like how the old shopkeeper near the city god temple had never seen the true manifestation of the city god before, the shopkeepers here had never seen the true manifestation of the fire god either. However, there were more stories and legends attached to the fire god, and he also sounded closer to the commoners than the city god.

These matters were recorded in the unofficial history books, and they largely pertained to how the fire god rewarded good deeds and punished evil deeds, as well as how he traveled around the mortal world for entertainment. Moreover, these records were quite ancient, but they had still been passed down through the generations, allowing people to still circulate them today.

Among these records were some rumors about the fire god having some disagreements with the lake lord of Verdant Bamboo Lake, a flood-prone lake that was located four hundred kilometers away. This was because the female owner of a water immortal shrine had once angered the fire god and caused a physical conflict.

The canal owner located in the jurisdiction of Verdant Bamboo Lake hadn't been a match for the fire god, so she had eventually requested help from the lake lord. In the end, it was surprisingly an unnamed sword immortal who had been passing by who had broken up the fight and calmed the two deities down. It was thanks to this that the lake lord hadn't unleashed his mystical abilities to flood Imperial Accompanying City.

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment and directly left Imperial Accompanying City, choosing a small mountain path to make a secret trip to the water immortal shrine located in the jurisdiction of Verdant Bamboo Lake. If the self-proclaimed canal owner, whose true rank was only equivalent to that of river guardian, was still present, then Chen Ping'an could ask some indirect questions to see whether he could learn more about the secrets of Imperial Accompanying City. If this impending catastrophe were one that affected the entire city, then he did indeed need to do something about it. If it were nothing more than a fight between local deities in this small region, however, then he could stand back and watch the situation play out first.

Night fell, and Chen Ping'an walked along the banks of a wide stream and arrived near a shrine. The path was overgrown with grass and weeds, and there were barely any houses in the surroundings. From this, it could be seen that the shrine was receiving few worshippers and little incense offerings.