Unsheathed

Chapter 212: Stern Tests

In the small town in the Dragon Spring Prefecture, a young Daoist priest wearing a lotus flower hat was seated by himself behind a small desk in an old school building that was no longer in use. He cast his gaze toward the spot where Qi Jingchun had been standing for 60 years, and he was silent as he unconsciously traced a finger back and forth over the surface of the desk.

Upon returning to his senses, Lu Chen raised a hand, making a grabbing motion, and he was able to "scoop" He Xiaoliang straight up from the Kun ship and pull her to his side. Even for a Golden Core Tier Qi refiner like He Xiaoliang, instantly traveling over such a vast distance left her reeling from a sense of dizziness, and she stumbled momentarily before steadying herself.

A solemn look then appeared on her face, and she took a moment to compose herself and smooth down her clothes before taking three steps back and falling to her knees, then kowtowed to the ground as she declared, "Disciple He Xiaoliang pays her respects to her master."

It was nothing short of an enormous blessing for the Jade Girl of a continent's Daoist orthodoxy like her to become a direct disciple to a Branch Master of Daoism.

Lu Chen nodded in response, then gestured for He Xiaoliang to get up as he said, "There's no need to observe such trivial formalities as my disciple, it's the thought that counts. You probably don't believe what I'm saying right now, but you'll come to understand once you meet your five other senior brothers and sisters. Outside of the Great Dao, everything else is completely superfluous."

Lu Chen had been born in Majestic World, but he had actually grown up in Heavenly World, and he didn't place much bearing on the rites and formalities observed in Confucianism or even the integral rules of Daoism. Even prior to his ascension, he had always placed very little weight on social norms, and that was why he lived a very carefree and uninhibited life and why his writings were renowned for their free-flowing nature.

In contrast with his first senior brother, who was meticulous to a fault, and his second senior brother, who was very careful and prudent, even in the face of their master, Lu Chen had never been one to follow rules. He had been scolded by his first senior brother and even beaten by his second senior brother for this, but he remained true to himself. Thankfully, his master wasn't bothered by his uncouth nature.

Lu Chen could see that He Xiaoliang was feeling rather tense and apprehensive, and he smiled as he asked, "Why are you so nervous? Could it be that you're still apprehensive about what happened before? Are you thinking that I'm constantly trying to go around setting traps for you? Is that why you feel the need to meticulously ponder everything that I say and do? If that's what you're thinking, then you're wrong.

“Overcompensation is just as much of a mistake as lack of adaptation. You were able to become my direct disciple as you managed to pass three tests, the first of which is that you detected my machinations and immediately peered into your own heart, remaining true to yourself and dispelling the illusion that you and Chen Ping'an were a 'match made in heaven.'

“That allowed you to grasp the truth, which is that the two of you are only loosely tied together by fate. Only after passing this test will you be able to ensure your own survival on Complete Reed Continent. That continent is filled with swordsmen, and everything is settled by the sharpness of one's sword or the hardness of one's fists.

“You'll eventually encounter some major setbacks there, and given how smoothly everything has gone in your life thus far, your mentality will completely crumble if your mental state is affected by these setbacks. If that happens, then I'll have no choice but to give up on you."

Lu Chen smiled as he continued, "On this occasion, Xie Shi requested three people from the Great Li Empire. Setting aside Li Xisheng for now, Ma Kuxuan was the lucky child chosen by my second senior brother. There may be quite a large age gap between the two, but their personalities are very much alike, and that's why he was chosen.

“As for whether there were other hidden circumstances involved, the rules of the Daoist orthodoxy stipulate that junior and senior brothers are not to perform divination on one another, so I have no way of knowing. You are the one chosen by me as your Dao Heart and your cultivation experiences are very similar to my past experiences.

“You had to see through illusions to find yourself, and the situation isn't anywhere near as complex as you imagine it to be. I didn't choose you to serve as a pawn or puppet to play a role for Daoism in the battle between the hundred schools of thought or anything like that. Instead, I simply liked the look of you, so I decided to take you as my disciple.

“Do you really think those old farts in the Confucian temples would actually let me go free without closely scrutinizing my every move? My intentions and plans are a complete open book. As for whether you'll be able to establish a firm foothold on Complete Reed Continent and survive to the very end, that will be up to you. Once I travel to Heavenly World, I won't go out of my way to look out for my disciples.

“The Confucian Sages won't intentionally try to harm you, and you have a senior brother who's roaming Middle Earth Divine Continent, as well as a senior sister who's cultivating at the Sword Qi Great Wall. If anything happens, you can turn to them for help.

“Now that you're a disciple of mine, you have certain standards to live up to, and you have to do me proud, but don't worry, I'm not like your previous master back at Divine Edict Sect, and I won't force you to engage in dual cultivation with me."

He Xiaoliang had reverted back to the same beautiful Daoist nun as before, the one who regarded everything else outside of the Great Dao as inconsequential, and she asked a question that had been on her mind for a long time: "Are there also Confucian Sages pulling strings in secret in Heavenly World that our Daoist teaching has full control over?"

Lu Chen immediately burst into laughter. "Of course! It's the same everywhere, and everyone is very busy. Surely you don't think that the likes of Ma Kuxuan, Wei Jin, and Song Changjing are the cream of the crop among the prodigies of this world?

“If you do think that, then you should really go and visit Middle Earth Divine Continent, or White Jade Capital of Heavenly World. In those places, you'll come to realize that there's always a more brilliant prodigy out there."

He Xiaoliang was seated behind a nearby desk, and she was looking directly into Lu Chen's eyes. After hearing what he had said, her brows furrowed slightly, as if she was perplexed about something.

"You must be wondering why the three teachings don't just establish an agreement to only develop their forces on their own territory instead of going to the trouble of meddling with one another, right?" Lu Chen asked with an amused expression.

He Xiaoliang nodded in response. That was exactly what she was thinking.

"That's because all of the territories are ancient battlefields that were claimed by our predecessors at the cost of their lives," Lu Chen explained. "We're also afraid that the territories that we rule over could turn on us. If we choose to willingly isolate ourselves, or our actions make those beneath us feel as if their pursuit of the Great Dao is being restricted, then the ultimate outcome can be seen in all of the current worlds."

Lu Chen casually pointed in the direction of the immortal tomb in the town as he continued, "The worlds continue to exist, but the once high-and-mighty rulers of these worlds have been reduced to nothing more than sets of remains buried in the ground."

A hint of enlightenment appeared in He Xiaoliang's eyes.

Some things were too distant and too difficult to understand, and those who knew about such things were unwilling to divulge these matters to others or write them down in recordings, so their successors naturally remained oblivious.

There were far too many theories out there, and the flames of speculation were only further fanned by the Fictionists, overtly imaginative and expressive scholars, and historians who wanted to make it appear as if they knew more than the average person.

With so much false information constantly circulating, even if some grains of truth did rise to the surface, they would be quickly drowned out again, and ultimately, reality would be twisted to the point that untruths were lauded, while the truth was condemned as fiction.

Lu Chen smiled as he continued, "But I digress. Let's get back to the main topic. Your second test is one in which I have to determine whether you'll be dependent on Heavenly Lord Xie Shi during your trip to Complete Reed Continent, or whether you'll be establishing your own sect there.

“That's why I intentionally set a trap for you, leading you to the false belief that you turned your back on both of the correct options while choosing the most incorrect one, one that'll make you miss out on any opportunity to fulfill your Great Dao. As a result, you'll be filled with remorse and begin to doubt your own judgment and Dao Heart."

"I was only able to pass the test thanks to the shred of clarity I had remaining in my mind," He Xiaoliang replied in a candid fashion.

Lu Chen smiled as he said, "With regard to this point, I used it as the finale to explain why you and Chen Ping'an were connected by fate. Let's talk about the final test first. This one is a bit more complicated as it has multiple parts. The term 'love' can encompass many different meanings, and romantic love can easily arise between a man and a woman.

“Hence, I planted a seed of love in your heart without your detection, and whenever the seed is nourished by the waters of fate, it'll sprout and grow at a rapid rate. This method of speeding things along normally does more harm than good, but it's actually perfect in your case. Besides, even the unadvised methods can turn into effective ones when used by me.

“When it came to your former master from Divine Edict Sect, who raised and nurtured you from a young age, and the exceptional prodigy, Wei Jin, you were able to pass both of those tests with ease, remaining true to yourself and not wavering in the slightest, but when it came to the final test in the form of Chen Ping'an, I decided to intentionally make things more difficult for you.

“I actively established a bridge between the two of you to place you in a difficult dilemma. If you had abandoned your free will and chosen to follow the path that I set out for you just because you were intimidated by my status as a Branch Master, then I would've still allowed you to establish a sect of your own on Complete Reed Continent, but I definitely wouldn't have accepted you as my disciple. Finding a suitable disciple is a very difficult matter."

Lu Chen's smile faded as he continued, "If you want to become my disciple, then you should harbor the ambition to go even further and reach even loftier heights than I have. In my eyes, there's no such thing as turning your back on conventional wisdom and straying off the right path.

“Conventional wisdom is just a set of rules written down by those who've come before us, and the so-called right path is just the beaten path walked by our predecessors. As for whether those things are actually correct, why don't you go and take a look for yourself?"

Even someone as aloof and detached as He Xiaoliang couldn't help but be struck by a sense of awe and veneration upon hearing this.

She rose to her feet, then extended a respectful curtsey to Lu Chen as she said, "I hope that someday, I can reach the lofty heights upon which you stand and sit alongside you as equals."

"That's going to be rather difficult," Lu Chen mused.

He Xiaoliang sat back down as she asked, "Master, what did you mean when you referred to the 'finale' earlier? And is there some deeper meaning behind my fated ties with Chen Ping'an?"

Lu Chen nodded in response. "Of course. If you weren't He Xiaoliang, and he wasn't Chen Ping'an, and you were just a pair of ordinary people instead, it would've indeed been rather foolish of me to play match-maker between the two of you. Qi Jingchun was playing match-maker in order to place a burden on Chen Ping'an's shoulders in the hope that his heart will be honed to the point that it'll be able to carry the weight of mountains someday.

“As for you and Chen Ping'an, you two are like a pair of mirrors that reflect one another, and it wasn't just a matter of having Chen Ping'an share your fortune and using him as a test to help you overcome the hurdle of love. When it comes to Chen Ping'an's personality, I've seen countless strange and enigmatic people in this world, and he's not all that strange or remarkable, but his personality is very similar yet also different from yours.

“There's a certain level of affinity between the two of you, and that's why even during your first encounter, you were able to tell that the two of you were loosely connected by fate. In reality, your fated ties aren't that loose, it's just that your cultivation base is limited, and you couldn't see the true depth of those ties."

"Is this another test, Master?" He Xiaoliang asked in a quiet voice.

Lu Chen burst into laughter. "Why would I test you when you've already become my disciple? Are you not going to be satisfied unless you become a direct disciple to the Dao Ancestor himself so you can rank alongside me as equals?"

He Xiaoliang's eyes remained clear and lucid as she shook her head with a smile and replied, "That is not my intention."

"Seeing as I've become your master, I should give you a welcoming gift as my new disciple. This is not an insignificant gift, it's a bit of 'Dao' that I managed to obtain from your grandmaster prior to coming here," Lu Chen said with a smile.

He Xiaoliang faltered slightly upon hearing this.

She had only just severed the "bridge" between herself and Chen Ping'an back on the Kun ship and it appeared that she had already reverted back into the He Xiaoliang that was blessed by the heavens.

Lu Chen seemed to have gleaned her thoughts, and he burst into laughter as he declared, "Let me take on a trip against the flow of time!"

Even though all mystical abilities were restricted in Jewel Small World, it was still unable to escape from the overarching laws of the world, such as the procession of seasons and the cycle of birth, growth, illness, and death.

With Lu Chen's powers, he was able to display these cycles to He Xiaoliang.

He Xiaoliang was still situated in the school, yet it seemed as if she were temporarily disconnected from this world, and her eyes were glowing as she looked at all of the scenes acting out in reverse around her.

This was the exact path that she wanted to pursue!

Lu Chen smiled as he said, "Follow me and I'll take you somewhere to meet two people."

The two of them set off with the sound of children reading aloud ringing out clearer and clearer behind them in the school, except their reciting was also in reverse, and it was truly as if they had memorized the books so well that they could recite them back to front.

The children's appearances and voices were clearly visible and audible, but perhaps due to certain restrictions or the deal that Qi Jingchun had made with the Dao Ancestor, he was nowhere to be seen in the classroom. It was as if he had never existed, and his presence had completely faded from the river of time.

Lu Chen passed through a series of streets and alleys with He Xiaoliang right on his heels, sticking close behind him for fear of getting lost and being unable to find her way out again.

In the end, Lu Chen stopped in his tracks and told He Xiaoliang to wait, and she immediately obliged, not daring to make a single move.

With a sweep of his sleeve, the flow of time was reversed back to the correct direction, and all order was restored.

After that, Lu Chen led her to a nearby stand. He Xiaoliang didn't know why he had brought her here, and she couldn't help but wonder if there was something special about this streetside stand. The stall owner was a humble and honest-looking middle-aged man who was selling tanghulu.

A short while later, He Xiaoliang spotted a thin and dark-skinned child slowly approaching the stand. He stopped right beside her, taking a glance at the bustling tanghulu stand as he gulped down some drool. After business had died down a little, the child departed.

Lu Chen snapped his fingers, and a day immediately passed by.

The tanghulu stand continued to operate day after day, and the child passed by it over and over again while returning from collecting medicinal herbs in the mountains, or from catching fish in the creek, or while helping his neighbors carry water to their residences.

One day, the child set off to pick medicinal herbs from the mountain as usual, carrying his basket on his back, but upon reaching the entrance of Clay Vase Alley, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. During his last outing, he was very fortunate to have picked up a few very valuable medicinal herbs, and in a rare display of prosperity, the small rice jar back home had been filled past the halfway mark, so he wasn't going to have to worry about food for at least the next ten days.

With that in mind, he looked up at the gloomy sky, seemingly telling himself that a heavy storm was coming, so even if he did set off for the mountains, he would most likely have to turn back around anyway.

Hence, the child rushed back to his house, then removed the basket from his back before digging a small clay jar out from the foot of his yard wall. He tipped several copper coins out of the small jar, then quickly rushed out of Clay Vase Alley to the tanghulu stand.

However, the closer he drew to the stand, the heavier his footsteps became, and he slowed down further and further. Finally, he stopped in his tracks while still quite far away from the stall with a conflicted look on his face, and his fist clenched harder around the copper coins.

In the end, the child took a few more steps forward, then squatted down and began staring at the bright red tanghulus with a dazed expression.

Lu Chen and He Xiaoliang were standing right beside him, and the former smiled as he asked, "If you were in his shoes, what do you think he would be thinking at this moment?"

"If only I could eat the tanghulu and not have to pay," He Xiaoliang immediately replied without any hesitation.

Lu Chen nodded in response. "Keep watching."

During a lull in business, the tanghulu stand owner seemed to have spotted the boy who was always passing by his stand, but could never afford to buy a tanghulu.

Initially, the stand owner sat on his chair in silence, but in the end, it seemed that he felt sympathetic toward the child, and he stood up as he beckoned to the boy with a smile. "I'm about to pack up for the day, and I'm not going to be able to sell these remaining tanghulus. If you want one, I can give one to you for free."

The stand owner wore a friendly smile as he spoke, and he pulled out a tanghulu before offering it to the boy. "Go on, take it."

However, the child hurriedly rose to his feet, then shook his head with a smile before running away.

He Xiaoliang was a little perplexed to see this. If this was a younger version of Chen Ping'an, then she actually wouldn't have found this decision to be strange at all.

Lu Chen pointed at the tanghulu stand owner as he said, "This man is a Naturalist from Middle Earth Divine Continent who isn't all that renowned among mortals, but in reality, he alone possesses the power to contend against the entirety of the Naturalist Lu Clan. He's a very strange and remarkable person, and even my first senior brother doesn't have a grasp on his thoughts and intentions."

He Xiaoliang became even more perplexed upon hearing this.

"Let me show you why I brought you here," Lu Chen said with a smile, then extended a hand forward and swept it through the air to conjure up a "Chen Ping'an".

The child rushed over and accepted the free tanghulu, then skipped joyfully back to Clay Vase Alley. After having the tanghulu, he was unable to forget the taste, and a few days later, he returned to the stand to receive another free tanghulu. As time passed, a hint of laziness began to arise in his heart. He would often think of the tanghulu stand, and he would pick fewer medicinal herbs during his forays into the mountains than he normally would.

This mindset was only compounded day after day, year after year, and while it wasn't necessarily the case that he had become a bad person, he was no longer the same Chen Ping'an that He Xiaoliang had first encountered on the Azure Cow Ridge.

After that, they returned to that point in time, and Lu Chen conjured up another Chen Ping'an with a sweep of his hand. This time, he didn't choose to accept the free tanghulu. Instead, he paid for it, and after that, he became even more motivated to work, becoming obsessed with earning money.

Eventually, he grew tired of tanghulus, but then developed a taste for pastries. Just like the previous scenario, the child continued to grow up year after year, and this Chen Ping'an also wasn't quite right in He Xiaoliang's eyes.

As Lu Chen raised his hand over and over again, He Xiaoliang saw one Chen Ping'an after another, all of whom made slightly different decisions, leading to a variety of different changes.

In the end, He Xiaoliang fell into deep thought.

Lu Chen smiled as he said, "Let's go back."

With that, the two of them returned to the school.

This trip through the river of time was very much like that time when Qi Jingchun had led Chen Ping'an to the old locust tree to secure a locust leaf.

Lu Chen's hands were clasped behind his back as he led the way forward and asked, "Have you figured out what I'm trying to show you?"

"Only by remaining true to oneself can one remain oneself," He Xiaoliang replied in a quiet voice.

Lu Chen nodded in response, but offered no reply.

"Could it be that I'm wrong, and I'm too short-sighted?" He Xiaoliang asked.

Lu Chen turned around with a smile as he replied, "No, no, not at all. You arrived at the correct conclusion, the only problem is that you seem to be oblivious to just how mighty your master's powers are!"

————

While Lu Chen was passing through a certain passage of time with He Xiaoliang, there was a Confucian scholar with a pair of gray sideburns sitting in a room on his own. Having just dismissed the schoolchildren for the day, the scholar was playing out a Go position on his own according to a manual.

His face was no longer blurry and indistinct, having become clearly visible, and right as Lu Chen and He Xiaoliang were passing by outside, Qi Jingchun bent down to pick up a Go stone as he smiled and mused to himself, "It's nothing much."