Unsheathed

The intercontinental ships from the eight continents all had private ties with the Yan Clan, the Nalan Clan, and the more approachable sword immortals, such as Sun Juyuan. The reason for this was very simple: The sword immortals and sword cultivators from wealthy clans on the Sword Qi Great Wall often had many strange requests to be fulfilled. Some were willing to purchase exotic antiques for exorbitant prices far higher than they would be sold for elsewhere, and the same applied to a wide range of other items.

Thus, outside of cultivation resources, the Hou Clan's Smoke Spirit also specialized in supplying exotic fragrances, which were then woven into sixteen types of scented pouches by immortal sects before being sold to a group of regular buyers on the Sword Qi Great Wall.

There had been quite a bit of debate in the Hidden Official's branch over this matter, and for once, Lin Junbi and Chou Miao took the same side, proposing to cut off all supply for things of this nature. Given how dire the situation on the Sword Qi Great Wall had become, they couldn't afford to be spending money on these useless luxuries.

In the end, the Hidden Official's branch chose a middle-ground option, reducing this type of trade on the Sword Qi Great Wall, but didn't abolish it entirely.

The Osmanthus Island was still docked at the Catch and Release Pavilion, and after receiving the invitation from the Spring Banner Inn, they first communicated with the administrator of the Hou Clan's intercontinental ship, who had arrived on the Osmanthus Island.

At the moment, the administrator of the Osmanthus Island was the guest elder of the Fan Clan, Ma Zhi, the Golden Core Tier sword cultivator with the Shade bonded flying sword.

The Guimai courtyard on the Osmanthus Island was reserved for an outsider, and it had been many years since it was last available to the public.

Ma Zhi had once instructed a young boy there in his swordsmanship.

In the elegant courtyard where Lady Gui was staying, Jin Su was brewing some tea for their guests.

Ma Zhi and the administrator of the Hou Clan were discussing what gifts they were going to present. They had heard that the Ganoderma Inn had lost over a hundred immortal treasures overnight, and the only treasures that remained were some spirit tools that weren't of sufficient value, or immortal treasures that were far too expensive.

This was quite a concern for Administrator Hou Peng. Even though the Hou Clan's business was thriving in the region north of Old Dragon City and south of Lake View Academy, they were actually quite short on grain rain coins. If he had already known that he would have to pay a visit to the Spring Banner Inn with precious gifts before the Smoke Spirit set off from Old Dragon City, then everything would've been fine. While the Hou Clan didn't have an abundance of grain rain coins, they still had enough to spare for this purpose.

However, both Hou Peng and the Osmanthus Island had only received messages via flying sword on the way here, so Hou Peng had to pay for the gifts out of his own pocket, and that presented quite a headache. If he were to present too light a gift to curry the favor of the Spring Banner Inn, then the Hou Clan's ancestral hall would be sure to criticize him for being too stingy. However, if he were to spend too much, perhaps he would be able to appease the Spring Banner Inn, but the Hou Clan's ancestral hall would be unhappy with him for overspending.

This was the problem with people who actually did things. The more they did, the more they were faulted. In contrast, those who stayed home and did nothing all year round could freely criticize others without having to bear any consequences themselves.

Ma Zhi wasn't in a much better situation. At the moment, the Fan Clan was in a state of turmoil, and Ma Zhi had been implicated for being too close to the future clan leader, Fan Er.

As a result, every single thing that he did was being closely scrutinized by the old geezers in the Fan Clan's ancestral hall.

It had been a very long time since Fan Junmao last made an appearance, and the story that the Fan Clan was telling the outside world was that she had gone out on a long journey on her own.

Ma Zhi had some guesses about where she could be, but he didn't dare to bring up this subject to anyone.

Fan Er had grown up from a boy into a young man, and he had gradually begun getting involved in the clan's affairs. Of course, Ma Zhi belonged to Fan Er's faction. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to become the administrator of the Osmanthus Island. Even if Lady Gui had personally recommended him for the role, the Fan Clan's ancestral hall most likely wouldn't have approved.

The Osmanthus Island was already technically Fan Er's property, but at the moment, there were many dissenting voices directed toward Fan Er from within the Fan Clan. In particular, his decision to lend such a large sum of grain rain coins to Downtrodden Mountain of the Dragon Spring Prefecture had been a subject of much heated debate.

Many of the older individuals in the Fan Clan were of the opinion that he was still too rash and naive, and that even if he were the future clan leader, he couldn't be fully entrusted with ownership of the Osmanthus Island. Instead, they were of the opinion that an older and more experienced senior of the Fan Clan should look after the Osmanthus Island in his stead for a few years first.

If it weren't for the fact that Fan Er had invested a large sum of money from his personal coffers, and the Sun Clan had also been willing to fork out a bunch of money, there was no way that this would've been approved.

Lady Gui merely sipped on her tea in silence.

The two administrators quickly made some decisions on what gifts were to be prepared, as well as what they were going to do once they arrived at the Spring Banner Inn. The overall plan was still to observe more and speak less. As long as they spoke as little as possible, there was less of a chance for them to make missteps.

Hou Peng set down his teacup as a peculiar look appeared on his face.

Following the discussion, Ma Zhi abandoned his cup of tea in preference for a flagon of osmanthus wine.

"The new Hidden Official's name is Chen Ping'an, right?" Hou Peng mused.

Ma Zhi was unable to hold back his laughter as he guffawed, "What are you thinking, Brother Hou?!"

Jin Su was perplexed.

"The new Hidden Official of the Sword Qi Great Wall is a young sword immortal by the name of Chen Ping'an," Lady Gui explained.

"And he's very fluent in the official dialect of the Majestic World," Hou Peng added.

Jin Su also burst into laughter upon hearing this, but she covered her mouth as she did so and wasn't as loud as Ma Zhi.

Both she and Ma Zhi were very familiar with another Chen Ping'an, the one from the Great Li Empire. Once upon a time, he had stayed in the Guimai courtyard not far away from here.

Jin Su felt like it was utterly preposterous that Hou Peng would even consider such a connection.

Clearly, this was just a case of two people coincidentally having the same name.

In Jin Su's memories, Chen Ping'an had been nothing more than a stingy young boy. Back then, he had been carrying a sword on his back, but he was only a pure martial artist, and one of a very low cultivation base, at that.

At the time, Jin Su had been instructed by her mistress to visit all of the notable attractions on Stalactite Mountain with Chen Ping'an, and her impression of him could be summarized in three words: rigid, uptight, boring.

She could still recall that he was a rather dark-skinned young boy, and he had a short, slight, and frail build. He spoke in a very quiet voice, and he was always looking around, but he always made sure to look directly at someone whenever he spoke to them. She recalled that he had a pair of pure and clear eyes, and that he always appeared to be listening carefully whenever others spoke to him.

"You're right," Hou Peng said with a self-deprecating shake of his head. "Even Brother Ding has already returned safely to Old Dragon City, so it's clearly not the same person."

Ma Zhi smiled and nodded in response, and both of them knew not to discuss this subject any further.

Despite Ma Zhi's dismissal of the idea, there was still always a tiny sliver of a chance that the Chen Ping'an that they knew and this new Hidden Official could be one and the same.

If that were the case, then that would be a massive blessing from the heavens for the Osmanthus Island. In contrast, it was difficult to say whether this was good or bad news for the other prominent clans of Old Dragon City.

Zheng Dafeng of the Dust Medicinal Shop had once engaged City Lord Fu Qi in a battle on the Dragon Scaling Platform, and after that, the Fu Clan had even gone out of its way to send people to kill Zheng Dafeng. All of the prominent clans of Old Dragon City aside from the Fan Clan and the Sun Clan had played a role in that, helping the Fu Clan to plot against Zheng Dafeng and his companions.

Among them, the Ding Clan had even called upon the Parasol Leaf Sect, which had been the most powerful immortal sect on the Parasol Leaf Continent at the time, but apparently, they were having quite a hard time at the moment.

There were stories going around about how the sect had been struck by a series of misfortunes that had left it in the worst position it had been in for several thousand years. The Ding Clan had also been made to suffer as a result, even though they had no idea what had happened, and they were deprived of much of their business.

Thankfully, the other prominent clans of the city didn't take things too far, and the Ding Clan was willing to bide its time and wait for greener pastures to come around. Overall, the Ding Clan was still earning a lot of money under the Fu Clan, but it had been doomed to languish at the very bottom of the pecking order among the city's most prominent clans.

This was why the Ding Clan was sure to be very keen on exploring new business opportunities through its intercontinental ship. They desperately wanted to find a way to improve their current situation, and the first step to doing that would be to establish ties with the Spring Banner Inn.

Ma Zhi and Hou Peng were both seasoned businessmen, and they could imagine that the Ding Clan would be sure to offer extremely low prices to appease the Sword Qi Great Wall. It was very likely that they would lower their prices to the point that they were only just barely breaking even, completely sacrificing profits in order to curry favor with the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Shortly thereafter, Ma Zhi and Hou Peng left the Osmanthus Island together to meet with several other intercontinental ship administrators that they were familiar with. They planned to visit the Spring Banner Inn separately at different times, bearing precious gifts when they went.

The only ones left in the courtyard on the Osmanthus Island were Lady Gui and Jin Su, and the latter immediately began complaining to the former about how short-sighted the old seniors of the Fan Clan were.

"You may see those old seniors as stubborn old farts now, but all of them have made major contributions in the past to the Fan Clan's current prosperity," Lady Gui said with a smile. "You only think they're short-sighted because you're biased. Sun Jiashu was also willing to invest in Downtrodden Mountain with the Fan Clan, and you simply don't like it when anyone goes against him."

Jin Su lowered her head in embarrassment.

"You can have personal biases when assessing people, but you can't allow your personal emotions to cloud your judgment," Lady Gui said with a serious expression. "That is the foundation of any cultivator's mental cultivation, and even a non-cultivator should strive to do the same.

“You come from the Fan Clan, but if you marry Sun Jiashu, then you'll be marrying into the Sun Clan. If you do nothing but focus on your cultivation, then everything will be fine, but if you're not careful and lacking in mental cultivation, then you could easily turn the Fan Clan and the Sun Clan against each other."

Lady Gui was rarely ever this serious, so Jin Su knew that she had to take this warning to heart.

After sitting together in silence for a while, Lady Gui told Jin Su that she didn't need to keep her company any longer, and that if she wanted to visit the shops on Milu Cliff, then she was free to do so.

Jin Su wasn't interested. At the moment, the atmosphere on Stalactite Mountain was very tense, and she had no intention of going there, so she left the courtyard to cultivate instead.

Not long after she left, the sound of door-knocking rang out.

Lady Gui rose to her feet with a smile and invited, "Come in, Young Master Chen."

A young man entered the room, then removed the facade from his face before cupping his fist in a salute and greeting, "Please pardon my intrusion, Lady Gui."

"To what do I owe this honor?" Lady Gui jibed with a bright smile.

"Please don't think anything of my visit, Lady Gui; I'm only here to ask for a flagon of osmanthus wine," Chen Ping'an said in an apologetic manner after taking a seat.

Lady Gui pulled out a flagon of osmanthus wine and handed it to Chen Ping'an with a smile as she asked, "I take it that you've begun to take an interest in the Plum Blossom Garden, is that right, Lord Hidden Official?"

Chen Ping'an didn't reply.

"You're not worried that I could be colluding with Lady Tuo Yan?" Lady Gui asked.

"Of course not," Chen Ping'an replied with a shake of his head.

Lady Gui didn't bother to ask what was going to become of the Plum Blossom Garden.

Chen Ping'an had told Lady Gui that he was here for wine, but he left the flagon of osmanthus wine untouched as he smiled and asked, "I presume Jin Su still prefers Sun Jiashu over Fan Er, right?"

Lady Gui nodded in response.

Chen Ping'an stayed for a while longer, and the two of them chatted about how Fan Er had been doing of late. It seemed that there wasn't much for the two of them to talk about aside from Fan Er.

Somehow, it felt like they weren't able to be as open and earnest with each other as they had been in the past.

Lady Gui could see that there was a lot on Chen Ping'an's mind, and she knew that he was definitely in a very difficult position.

Finally, Chen Ping'an finished his flagon of osmanthus wine, and he prepared to return to the Spring Banner Inn, but he wasn't going to reveal himself there.

He had come to the Osmanthus Island on this occasion to request Lady Gui to deliver two secret letters for him, one each to Cui Dongshan and Song Jixin.

Lady Gui accepted the two secret letters, and Chen Ping'an expressed his gratitude to her before getting up to depart, but before he could do so, a familiar figure arrived outside the courtyard.

It was none other than Jin Su.

"Long time no see, Jin Su," Chen Ping'an greeted as he stood up with a smile.

Jin Su was clearly very much taken aback to see Chen Ping'an here, and she also smiled as she asked, "What're you doing here, Chen Ping'an... I mean, Young Master Chen?"

"You can just call me by my name," Chen Ping'an said in an exasperated manner.

Jin Su sat down beside Lady Gui, then asked in a quiet voice, "Wasn't he practicing his fist techniques on the Sword Qi Great Wall? What's he doing here? I heard that it's really hard going back and forth between the Sword Qi Great Wall and Stalactite Mountain right now. Is he feeling frustrated because he just so happens to share the same name as the Hidden Official, so he came here to drink away his sorrows?"

"That's right," Chen Ping'an confirmed with a nod, having to fight back a smile.

"I thought maybe there was a tiny chance that you would be the new Hidden Official, but I guess I should've known better," Jin Su sighed with a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

"If I really were the Hidden Official, I think you'd be the one drowning your sorrows right now." Chen Ping'an chuckled.

"Young Master Chen is much more interesting to talk to than in the past, Mistress," Jin Su said as she turned to Lady Gui with a bright smile.

"Why did you come back?" Lady Gui asked with a smile.

"I wanted to go to the Milu Cliff, after all," Jin Su replied.

Lady Gui turned to Chen Ping'an, and the latter gave her a slight nod.

"You can go with Young Master Chen to the Catch and Release Pavilion," Lady Gui said.

"No, no, there's no need for that," Jin Su hurriedly said. "I'm more familiar with Stalactite Mountain than Young Master Chen."

She liked Sun Jiashu and disliked Fan Er, while Chen Ping'an was a close friend of Fan Er and a business partners with Sun Jiashu, so she felt like it was best not to establish any ties with him.

Lady Gui didn't insist, simply allowing Jin Su to leave on her own, and Chen Ping'an waited for a short while after Jin Su's departure before also standing up to leave.

Lady Gui escorted him to the entrance of the room, then suddenly warned, "Make sure to be careful of Sun Scorch Mountain."

"I will," Chen Ping'an replied with a nod as he took a glance in the direction of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

"I take it that you're finally a sword cultivator now?" Lady Gui asked.

"I have two bonded flying swords," Chen Ping'an revealed through his mind's lake. "If my status as a sword cultivator is exposed, then I'll proclaim that my bonded flying swords are called Firewood and Account Book."

"Those are some good names," Lady Gui lied.

As for what the innate abilities of his two bonded flying swords were, she wasn't curious about that at all.

"The real name of one of the flying swords is Caged Sparrow," Chen Ping'an said as he scratched his head. "As for the other one, I'm still deciding between Moon in the Sky and Moon in the Well."

It seemed like being too good at naming could be a curse sometimes.

"Those are much better names," Lady Gui said with a smile.

Chen Ping'an left the Osmanthus Island, then met up with Chou Miao at the Catch and Release Pavilion before the two of them traveled to the Plum Blossom Garden together.

They were going to pay a visit to Lady Tuo Yan.

Of course, they were also accompanied by Lu Zhi. When it came to reasoning with women, that task was best left to a woman.

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