Unsheathed

Regarding the new phenomenon that was appearing at the Locust Flower Nation, a small nation in the northern regions, the sudden increase in demons and fiends was related to the flood of spiritual energy surging into the territories of the dozen or so nations. Without the presence of the thunder pool to intimidate all matter, these demons and fiends naturally became livelier like the snakes and insects after spring thunder.

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Right now, Chen Ping'an had no plans to engage in conflict with Xia Zhen or the powerful cultivator from the Blissful Dream Nation. When it came to cultivators above the Golden Core Tier, those at the Nascent Tier were still manageable, as he could flee even if he wasn't able to defeat them. However, if even one of them were an Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator, then that would spell huge trouble for Chen Ping'an, especially since he didn't have any advantage here, neither timing, nor geographic, nor personnel.

If the two powerful cultivators truly wanted to kill him at all costs, then with the temper of cultivators at the Northern Complete Reed Continent, they definitely wouldn't hesitate in the least. Indeed, many outsider cultivators with powerful backers had been killed in this continent where the sword immortals were extremely xenophobic toward outsiders.

Otherwise, if Chen Ping'an were more ruthless, he could directly use his jade tablet of a sage to absorb the spiritual energy that was flooding into the dozen or so nations like a receding tide. However, activating this jade tablet — one that even Bamboo Scroll Lake's Liu Laocheng felt apprehensive of — from another continent like the Northern Complete Reed Continent would be a completely different situation. This was a huge taboo, and he would perhaps earn the contempt and interrogation of the continent's Confucian academy.

Of the two powerful masterminds, Chen Ping'an was more afraid of the cultivator who had ties with the Blissful Dream Nation than Xia Zhen, and this was because he had planned everything out meticulously and hadn't needed to get involved in the conflict himself. He had simply dispatched two underlings to obtain the valuable treasure from Imperial Accompanying City.

If it hadn't been for Chen Ping'an breaking through the formations and barging into the dragon palace at the bottom of Verdant Bamboo Lake, the Vajra Body Tier martial artist who had been disguising himself as a weakling among the Qi refiners from Blissful Dream Peak would have definitely continued to conceal his identity.

Coming across Du Yu was enough to roughly understand the situation at Ghost Axe Palace, and coming across the canal masters of Peony Stream and Algae Stream had been enough to roughly understand the traditions and customs of Verdant Bamboo Lake. Similarly, seeing Yan Qing was enough to roughly understand the actions of the Treasure Basin Immortal Realm, and seeing He Lu was enough to roughly understand the actions of Yellow Axe City.

There would naturally be some slight differences between Chen Ping'an's rough understanding and the truth, but the longer that he interacted with these immortal forces and the more of their disciples that he came across, the closer to the truth he would eventually get.

At that time, it would also become less and less likely for Chen Ping'an to be taken by surprise. Of course, there were also times when seeing one person was enough to understand an entire immortal force, and this was because the city god of Imperial Accompanying City, Fan Weiran, and Ye Han were all the leaders of their respective temples and immortal forces. They were the ones dictating the traditions and values of their forces.

One method was looking up, and one method was looking down, and after grabbing both ends, it would be like grabbing the two ends of a string. At that time, it would be difficult for the "string" to escape observation even if it lay hidden for hundreds upon thousands of kilometers.

The world was a complicated place. If one wanted to live a carefree life, then one option was to remain naive and only focus on one's own matters, accepting all of the fortunes and hardships that came one's way. The other option was to look more and to think more, with this option being much more mentally and physically taxing.

There was always a taller mountain, and always a more powerful person. Even the sages who oversaw the various small worlds and were akin to the heavens of these worlds would feel restricted and stifled when they left these small worlds. They would be at the mercy of other people, and they would also need to observe the many interconnected matters and complicated rules of the world.