Chapter 207: Falling from the Sky... a Person

Chapter 207: Falling from the Sky... a Person

Thanks to Wei Po's influence, Chen Ping'an stayed in a place of extravagant luxury—carved beams and jade rafters, so many rooms and such fine decorations that Chen Ping'an wondered if even the emperor's residence could compare.

In addition, the Kun ship had arranged for two maidservants named Spring Water and Autumn Fruit. One was plump and voluptuous, the other slender and delicate—completely different builds, yet they were twin sisters with similar appearances and an uncanny resemblance in their features.

They were responsible for attending to the honored guest Chen Ping'an's clothing, food, lodging, and travel. With lowered eyes and gentle voices, they made Chen Ping'an extremely uncomfortable. How could he possibly enjoy such favors from beauties? He insisted on handling everything himself. No matter how much the two young women tried to persuade him, Chen Ping'an stood firm. When night fell, Chen Ping'an asked for a foot-washing basin, placed his calloused feet into the scalding hot water, and the two young women stood nearby with mournful expressions. Chen Ping'an felt utterly ill at ease. It took much persuading to get them to rest in the outer room. Relieved, Chen Ping'an stood in the basin, looking around.

The two young women sat in the outer room, heads close together, chattering softly in their local dialect from Ju Lu Zhou, speaking in a sweet, melodious whisper about boudoir matters. They curiously speculated about the young man's identity—why the steward had looked at him with such admiration and awarded him a Heaven-grade waist token. They talked about the customs and traditions of Da Li, which they had heard from hearsay, and about the strange people and interesting events occurring in this East Floating Vase Continent during the new year. They discussed the feathered robes and green mountain garments worn by certain fairy maidens when they appeared this year, how well they suited their temperaments, and how the pearl hairpins produced by the Dragon Palace sparkled with such beauty.

On the table sat a celadon basin piled high with fresh fruits, their fragrance permeating the air. They had been purchased at high prices from various mountain peaks in Northern Ju Lu Zhou and exuded a faint spiritual energy.

The twin sisters, with their distinct charms, only dared to sneak a few glances and absolutely did not dare reach out to take any.

When Chen Ping'an's footsteps sounded, Spring Water and Autumn Fruit immediately stood up, standing respectfully, waiting for orders. They noticed the young man was still wearing his straw sandals, and even indoors, he refused to take off the sword case on his back. Their gazes met briefly at the corners of their eyes, and both had slight smiles—amusing, but they dared not mock him. Besides, on this Da Jiao Mountain Kun ship, which carried people and goods across three continents each round trip, as the top maidservants of the Heaven-grade rooms, they had seen many strange Qi refiners. They even felt that this young guest with Da Li's features might actually be forty or fifty years old—a common sight among mountain cultivators. When traveling afar, the younger someone appeared, the more careful one must be, never provoking them lightly.

Autumn Fruit picked up the foot-washing basin and went out to dump the water. Spring Water smiled and asked Chen Ping'an if he wanted to listen to some zither music. Tonight, there was a fairy maiden from Yellow Millet Pavilion on the Kun ship, a sect with generations of good relations with Da Jiao Mountain, who had been invited to play. Guests of the Heaven-grade rooms could go to private chambers for free. But Chen Ping'an was still carrying the "Demon Subduer" forged by Ruan Qiong, so he naturally didn't want to show his face in public and politely declined. This made Spring Water a bit disappointed. After all, if the honored guest Chen Ping'an was willing to go—even if just to pretend to be cultured—she and her sister Autumn Fruit would get to enjoy the fairy maiden's zither music and could "cleanse their ears" in the process.

In Ju Lu Zhou's Yellow Millet Pavilion, most cultivators were women, and almost all excelled at zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, and tea. Fairy maidens who mastered a particular art to perfection would earn titles like "Clear Vision," "Pure Heart," or "Cleansed Ears." The zither music of the fairy maiden on this Kun ship could truly "cleanse the ears." First, it praised the pleasing sound of her playing, and second, the effect was genuine—the music entering the ears could indeed wash away the accumulated filth in the ear's acupoints over the years.

Spring Water and Autumn Fruit had been cultivating for seven years but were limited by mediocre talent. They were only second-tier Qi refiners and not even registered disciples of Da Jiao Mountain. So even though the cleansing effect of the zither music was minimal, the two young women still didn't want to miss any chance to accumulate cultivation.

Chen Ping'an was unaware of this detail. Or, given his cautious nature, even if he knew the facts, he likely wouldn't go listen to the zither music. As a pure martial artist who had never even seen a guqin, and carrying a precious treasure, he dared not flaunt himself in public.

The two young women had nothing to do but needed to stay in a side room of the Heaven-grade suite. So the three of them just sat there staring at each other. Chen Ping'an grew even more envious of Wei Po—if he were in Chen Ping'an's position, they would surely be chatting and laughing, without such an awkward atmosphere.

In truth, Spring Water and Autumn Fruit weren't embarrassed; they found it novel. After all, they rarely encountered guests like this young man. There had been strange guests before, but they were the eccentric, aloof type. For example, one guest was so odd he had to clean every corner of the room himself—wiping the beams, scrubbing under the bed, busying himself, and refusing their help. It seemed even a speck of dust would settle on his heart.

Another guest was terrified of the dark. He would take out huge luminous pearls from his spatial storage, placing them on the table and bed, the light so bright it was blinding.

There was also a withered old man accompanied by a group of stinking female corpses, all dressed in gaudy red and green, powdered and rouged, moving freely but unable to speak. The scene was utterly terrifying, scaring the two maids so much that they slept in the side room without closing their eyes all night, afraid that if they let their guard down, they would become one of the corpses by dawn.

Chen Ping'an felt that just staring blankly wasn't good. He couldn't practice sword-foundation stance in front of strangers either, so he had to steel himself and break the silence first. In not-very-fluent East Floating Vase Continent court speech, he asked, "Miss Spring Water, Miss Autumn Fruit, where in Ju Lu Zhou is your Da Jiao Mountain?"

Once the conversation started, Chen Ping'an found the atmosphere much more relaxed. The two young women seemed born to chat. Soon, he didn't even need to interject—just listen. He politely invited them to take some fruit to quench their thirst, and they blushed and agreed. One lowered her head and ate sideways, while the other explained Da Jiao Mountain to Chen Ping'an. When one got tired, the other took over, and Chen Ping'an listened with great interest.

It turned out that Da Jiao Mountain was a major local sect in Ju Lu Zhou, located in the southwest. Although it currently lacked an Upper Five Realm grand Qi refiner for up to two cycles of sixty years—so much so that, according to tradition, it had been demoted from Da Jiao Sect back to Da Jiao Mountain, its founder's original name—its ancestors had truly been wealthy. At its peak, there were two Upper Five Realm immortals who could summon wind and rain, famous across the continent. Although both founding patriarchs who revived the sect were at the first level of the Upper Five Realm, the Jade Skin Realm (also known as the Eleventh Realm), having two Jade Skin cultivators in one sect was still an extremely glorious existence.

Although the two young women were not formal disciples of Da Jiao Mountain, they had a strong sense of pride. They told Chen Ping'an many legendary stories of the sect's patriarchs. One, during an intercontinental voyage, encountered a large group of deep-sea monsters and fought them off with brilliant sword light that outshone the moon over the sea. Another patriarch was most skilled in thunder magic, traveling from the southwest to the northeastern border of Ju Lu Zhou, earning the title "Heavenly Lord of the Shenxiao," slaying countless demons and monsters. Even now, countless people in Ju Lu Zhou still remember his kindness, setting up merit plaques in their homes with incense burning generation after generation.

Chen Ping'an listened to these glorious deeds and was mildly fascinated, but he didn't dwell on them. However, he was very interested in the term "Eleventh Realm Jade Skin" and couldn't help but ask about it. Since the sect had once had an Upper Five Realm cultivator, even a second-tier Qi refiner like Spring Water knew many things. She shared what she knew, saying that the legendary Jade Skin Realm was the culmination of Qi refining—returning to simplicity, with the body and physique approaching perfection, as if made of gold and jade. Without needing magical treasures, one was naturally immune to fire and water, and impervious to evil. Normally, lifespan ranged from five hundred to a thousand years.

Thus, the dynastic changes and transformations of the mortal world held little interest for Jade Skin cultivators.

When Spring Water reached this point, Autumn Fruit, who had finished eating a green fruit, accidentally burped. Her face flushed with embarrassment, and her sister Spring Water gave her a light glare. To make up for it, Autumn Fruit quickly continued explaining for Chen Ping'an: "Young Master Chen, I've also heard that after reaching the Upper Five Realm, Qi refiners no longer need to worry about leaving blessed lands and caves, or about the world's polluted air eroding their bodies like a river pouring in. The accumulation of personal spiritual energy gradually reaches a bottleneck, so there's little difference between cultivating on mountains and below. It's much more flexible and free than the 'mountain-like immovability' of the Tenth Realm Nascent Soul cultivators."

Speaking thus, Autumn Fruit's eyes grew dreamy. "All female Qi refiners dream of reaching this realm. Because once you reach the Eleventh Realm, you get one chance to change or beautify your original appearance, and it's guaranteed 'not to harm your fate.' So many women who were originally Tenth Realm, even if they were gray-haired old hags, can return to youth and stay young forever, their beauty unchanging until death."

Chen Ping'an asked curiously, "Why are common people afraid of facial disfigurement? And how can the Jade Skin Realm guarantee 'not to harm fate'?"

The maid Autumn Fruit was speechless. She knew the what but not the why. How could a second-tier Qi refiner know about the wonders of the Upper Five Realm?

Her sister Spring Water was more thoughtful and more willing to ponder questions. She smiled and said, "Young Master Chen, I dare not assert the truth, but I have some thoughts. Let me share them for your reference. For ordinary mortals, the facial features formed from the womb do relate to a person's fate. So it's not unreasonable for commoners in the mortal world to fear disfigurement. But for Qi refiners, disfigurement becomes much less likely after reaching the Middle Five Realm. As for why the Jade Skin Realm can change facial features without harming fate or destiny, I think..."

Here, Spring Water extended her hands and made a building-like gesture on the table. "For cultivators like my sister and me, in the Lower Five Realm, building spiritual energy is like constructing a house—just a few beams, just beginning. If 'disfigured,' it's like breaking a pillar; the house might collapse."

Then she made a wavy gesture. "But for Middle Five Realm and Upper Five Realm immortals, they've already built a solid house—even a complex like a mortal palace. So one disfigurement, even if a few beams break, probably doesn't matter much. For a female Jade Skin cultivator changing her appearance, it might be like renovating the building's exterior, or covering the roof with new glazed tiles to make it prettier. Can you understand that, Young Master Chen?"

Chen Ping'an nodded. "That makes sense."

Spring Water blushed slightly. "These are just my wild thoughts. I hope you won't laugh, Young Master."

Chen Ping'an smiled. "I think they're very reasonable."

Autumn Fruit blinked, her eyes full of regret. "But we've never seen a Jade Skin Realm old immortal in our lives, not even from a distance."

Spring Water's expression grew a bit deeper. "It's better not to see them. When Upper Five Realm immortals start fighting, even Middle Five Realm cultivators are not much better off than ordinary mortals."

Autumn Fruit pouted. "Just a distant glance would be enough."

Spring Water said helplessly, "Our eyesight is limited, and it can't be longer than the range of Upper Five Realm immortals' magical treasures. If we're not careful, we die without even knowing how we vanished."

Chen Ping'an didn't interrupt. Everyone had their own preferences and dreams, and they weren't close enough for him to interfere.

Suddenly, at the bow of the Kun ship, someone opened their mouth wide and pointed to the far west of the sky. Regaining their senses, they hurriedly called to their companions, shouting, "Look! Look!"

Above the sky of the Haoran World, a hole of unknown size had been forcibly torn open. Something was falling, as if someone had punched it down from the sky.

Although it fell extremely fast—faster than any top-tier magical treasure—because the sky's dome was so high above the land, anyone who happened to look in that direction could see this spectacular, world-shaking sight.

It was like a comet dragging a bright, dazzling tail, rushing toward the earth.

The entire Kun ship was in an uproar. Autumn Fruit ran out to ask, then rushed back to tell Chen Ping'an to quickly go to the observation deck attached to the Heaven-grade room—they couldn't miss it. Chen Ping'an led Spring Water and Autumn Fruit through the study, pushed open the door, and came to the outdoor observation deck. Sure enough, in the distant west, they saw that extremely brilliant falling star.

At the point where the sky was broken, a loud voice resounded with immense satisfaction, slowly spreading across the hearts of all cultivators in the world: "A Liang? How was that punch of mine, Daoist?"

These words—whether they wanted to hear them or not, everyone in the Haoran World had to hear them.

Truly domineering.

At that moment, countless cultivators, demons, and mountain and river deities would surely lift their heads, turn westward, and be shocked by the height of that "Daoist's" magic and the power of that punch.

Chen Ping'an also opened his mouth wide.

So A Liang had been punched down?

That streak of light crashed into the earth of a certain continent in the west, creating a huge crater. Then it rebounded—the force of that punch was so great that the rebound height almost equaled the height of the great Mount Sui in the Central Earth Divine Continent. The figure at the apex of the arc seemed to be seeking direction, then flashed and vanished. Almost no one in heaven and earth could catch their figure. Those capable of tracking it were truly few and far between, but without exception, they were used to such things and couldn't be bothered to care. At most, they silently calculated the changes in heavenly fate.

The young man with two swords on his back murmured, "That punch... was a bit... fierce?"

Then someone slapped him on the head and said irritably, "Fierce my ass!"