Unsheathed

Chen Ping'an also rose to his feet, and the smile on his face faded as he said, "Before you return to the Golden Crow Palace to commence your sword-cleansing journey, there's one final thing I have to ask you."

"Go ahead," Liu Zhiqing prompted.

"What gives you the right to mandate that everything in the Golden Crow Palace goes according to your will?" Chen Ping'an asked.

Liu Zhiqing offered no response.

"Think of an answer to that question before you begin cleansing your sword," Chen Ping'an advised.

Liu Zhiqing smiled as he replied, "That's a very simple question to answer. If I succeed in cleansing my sword, then the Golden Crow Palace will have a Nascent Tier swordsman. All the hardships they had to endure during my sword-cleansing journey will be compensated for when they get to enjoy the protection of a Nascent Tier swordsman."

"Swordsmen truly are direct and straightforward people," Chen Ping'an scoffed.

"Should I be like you then?" Liu Zhiqing countered. "Should I waste all my time sunbathing in front of a shop or picking pebbles out of a stream?"

"Get out of here, just the very sight of you pisses me off," Chen Ping'an said with a dismissive wave. "I get even more pissed off when I think of the possibility that you could become a Nascent Tier swordsman in the future. Once that happens, how am I going to make you eat dirt during our future sparring matches?"

"You want to act all pissed off, but internally, I know you're laughing!" Liu Zhiqing scoffed. "Those pebbles are only worth a few hundred taels of silver each, but I'm sure you're going to be selling them for at least a snowflake coin each! I bet you've already hatched a plan.

“You're going to hold onto those forty-nine pebbles for now, then sell them when they're at their most valuable. Ideally, you're going to wait until after I've reached the Nascent Tier before you sell them, right?"

"Your business talents are being wasted! You really need to start running a shop like me!" Chen Ping'an chortled.