Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 202 - 195 Integration Part 1

Chapter 202: Chapter 195 Integration Part 1

Night.

Standing on the trunk of the black wind tree, Lin Xin held a jade flute in his hand, feeling somewhat lost.

"So many years since I’ve come to this world... What exactly am I pursuing?" Thinking of Dongyue and the Bug Master, their life-and-death dependence on each other during the day, he didn’t understand or comprehend what deep bonds they must have shared for them to reach a point where they’d entrust their lives to each other in just a few short years.

But he knew that their relationship was actually similar to his with An Ying and Xiao Lingling.

So in the end, he let go, he let the Bug Master go. He didn’t regret this decision.

Reflecting on his original dream, it was merely out of curiosity and an unwillingness to lead an ordinary life that he embarked on the path of cultivation.

And now...

"What is it that I truly want?"

Lin Xin gently gripped the Red Flower Sword, feeling the vitality and consciousness pulsing from Yin Mantuo.

"Longevity and immortality? Becoming a fairy and attaining the Dao?.... Or is it to behold all the secrets of this world, unaffected by external influences?"

Standing in the shade of the tree, he too had no answer for a long time.

Settling down, marrying, and having children - at his age, with ample wealth, extraordinary power, beautiful women, and fine wine, he had it all. So what else could he desire?

The more he thought, the more lost Lin Xin felt.

"What exactly do people chase after in this world?"

He couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

"Junior Brother Lin, join me for a drink!" Dugu Lin appeared out of nowhere, drunkenly slinging an arm around his shoulder.

"Come on, let’s drink!"

"Senior Sister Dugu, you’re drunk again," Lin Xin said helplessly. With nothing else to do, he often saw Dugu Lin drinking heavily alone, somehow acquiring a variety of strange meats to secretly feast upon, and borrowing wine from all over while looking for different ways to enjoy herself.

Lin Xin steadied himself to avoid being pulled along.

After all, this wasn’t the first or second time he had seen Dugu Lin in such a carefree state.

"Senior Sister."

"Wha... what?"

After several attempts to pull him along failed, Dugu Lin simply sat down on the ground, sprawling out without any of the grace befitting a beautiful woman.

Lin Xin glanced at her, speechless.

"You tell me, what exactly is the purpose of living in this world?"

"The purpose? You’re not a grand scholar, why ponder over these things?!" Dugu Lin said impatiently, waving her hand. "Eat when you want to eat, sleep when you want to sleep, drink when you want to drink, play when you want to play! It’s better to enjoy the present than to think about useless things!"

She turned on her side to find a more comfortable position, bending one leg and stretching the other, her whole body forming a square shape.

"That way of thinking is indeed simple," Lin Xin said, speechless.

"Living should be simple, why overthink it? As cultivators, even inner Qi cultivators can live over a hundred or two hundred years. If everyone was like you, constantly pondering and worrying, wouldn’t that drive them mad from exhaustion?" Dugu Lin said lazily, communicating through a voice transmission instead of moving her mouth.

Lin Xin waved his hand and released an Array Plate that provided warmth, moisture removal, insect repelling, deodorization, and also shielded from both sight and sound, fully protecting one’s sleep.

This was something he made for use in his secluded cultivation chamber, but these days it had instead become Dugu Lin’s exclusive sleep tool.

"Wealth, fame, power, and strength..." Lin Xin thought of himself and An Ying, Dongyue and the Bug Master, and had a sudden insight.

"Yes... in living, we are simply seeking the life we want. Some people’s desires are simple, others are complicated. But in the end, everyone is seeking satisfaction."

"As long as you understand," Dugu Lin said casually, "you already have everything now: sons and grandsons, parents with you, the only thing missing is a beautiful wife to warm your bed. Just go to the Plum Blossom Sect and take her back!"

She rolled over, seemingly recalling something, her eyes gleaming.

"Is it because you’re afraid you’re not capable enough? No problem, hire me, I’ll help you!"

"....."

"Are you worried you won’t have enough people? No problem! I have lots of brothers and sisters. Call them over, and you’ll definitely be satisfied! They’re all children from high-ranking families of other sects looking to earn some pocket money. As long as your pay is good enough, leave it to us!" Dugu Lin chuckled, as if thinking of some mischievous scheme.

Seeing the look in her eyes, Lin Xin instantly knew she was scheming something for her own benefit.

"It’s not that I’m afraid it won’t work... I’m afraid of going bankrupt..." he said helplessly.

"Bankrupt? What do you mean? Are you short on money?" A sudden realization made Dugu Lin’s cheeks flush with embarrassment. "Right... I’ve been... a bit strapped for cash recently... um..."

"Who did you gamble with this time?" Lin Xin asked, exasperated. In just these few days here, Dugu Lin had borrowed money from him numerous times; at first, she was shy about it, but now she became increasingly thick-skinned.

"A little gambling for pleasure... hehehe." In the eyes of outsiders, Dugu Lin was an unattainable flower, cold and intimidating, but to those close to her, she was a complete joker. Thick-skinned was one of her notable traits.

Speaking of borrowing money, she immediately sat up, all smiles.

"How much do you need?" Lin Xin asked as he felt for his Storage Bag.

"Not much, not much, just five hundred... no, five thousand Jade Money will do..." Dugu Lin shamelessly asked for a large sum.

When she first gambled, she lost almost to the point of betting her Magic Artifacts, owing others fifty Spirit Jade and unable to pay back. Finding no one to borrow from at the moment, she remembered that Lin Xin was wealthy and came to him.

Once it had happened the first time, there was bound to be a second, and a third. Maybe she felt that since her dignity and image had already been thoroughly trashed in front of Lin Xin, she might as well go all-in and stop caring. And so, she began revealing her true nature, her greed for money and love for gambling laid bare before Lin Xin.

"Enough, enough." Lin Xin, with disdain, tossed out a jade token worth ten thousand, "All the loose change I had has been taken by you, I only have one in ten thousand left. Same rules, the interest is still three percent."

"Fine! Fine!" Dugu Lin’s eyes suddenly lit up. At this moment, being drunk was just a facade; her real purpose was actually to borrow money!

Catching the jade token, she turned and ran.

"Remember, the interest is three percent, that’s per month!" Lin Xin reminded her. He might be wealthy, but it wasn’t like the money fell into his lap for free. Although, trading Spirit Jade and simply picking up money weren’t all that different...

"I know!" Dugu Lin wasn’t listening anymore; she dashed out of the range of the formation and charged into a wooden hut, slamming the door shut with a bang.

"Let’s see if I’ll lose every single time today!" Amidst the clamor, Dugu Lin’s voice stood out particularly clear.

Lin Xin shook his head speechlessly. The serious topic they’d been discussing had been completely ruined by this person.

Just as he was about to head back to his room, he suddenly heard Dugu Lin’s distant voice transmitting a message to him.

"If you miss her that much, why don’t you just go and snatch her away? Hesitating like that, what kind of man are you!"

Lin Xin stopped in his tracks.

"You really intend to help me?"

"Nonsense! But if I help you this time, you have to write off the debt I owe you, and you have to craft a Magic Sword for me for free! How about that?!" Dugu Lin continued to transmit her message.

This was the perfect opportunity to fleece a fat sheep!

Lin Xin fell silent for a moment.

"How confident are you?"

"Eighty percent! I can call Cai Weizi too; she’s a sister of mine! But the reward has to be doubled."

"Cai Weizi..." Lin Xin had heard of this name, a famous genius of the Tianyun Dao, who had recently entered the late stage of Foundation Establishment at just eighty years of age. She was said to be beautiful and pure, a renowned genius from the Underworld in the central region. He had never imagined that this guy had connections with a top expert from the Tianyun Dao.

"Alright!" After a thought, Lin Xin decisively agreed, his worry about not finding An Ying gnawing at him. He had realized by now that he could die in the Underworld at any time. Wanting to act on his desires, to do as he pleased, he thought that too much caution and wavering was a waste of time, a life lived in vain.

Now with two great masters willing to join forces and abduct someone for him, what was there to be dissatisfied with? It was merely a matter of spending some money.

As for whether An Ying was willing or not, that was a question for after he had snatched her away. Why worry about so many things?

"There will also be troublesome follow-up reactions that you’ll need to deal with, and you’ll have to pay for that as well!" Dugu Lin started to haggle.

"How much do you want?"

"... Two thousand Spirit Jade?"

This guy really thought he was a walking moneybag...

Lin Xin’s face twitched.

"That’s too expensive... There’s only so much Spirit Jade produced; do you think it grows like cabbages?!"

"Anyway, you’re rich. Why keep so much for? Haven’t you heard that money only has value when it circulates?" Dugu Lin argued.

"Five hundred!" Lin Xin blurted out.

"Do you think we’re ordinary Qi Cultivators?! We’re two at the Foundation Establishment Stage! Helping you together, and you offer this little? Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at if word gets out? It tarnishes the mighty reputation of your Spirit Heart Villa as being wealthy as can be!"

"When did I ever have such a reputation..."

Amidst jest and argument, the two arranged their plan to snatch a person from the Plum Blossom Sect through transmitted messages. As long as Lin Xin could determine the location, they would join forces and make their move.

The price was one thousand five hundred Spirit Jade per person. For Lin Xin, it counted as a minor expense. But it still hurt, considering all this money was accumulated bit by bit with the ordinary masses.

He felt he was becoming more and more miserly, even though the value of various Talisman Artifacts he carried with him exceeded five thousand Spirit Jade...

"What if it doesn’t work?" He suddenly worried again. "If it fails, you’ll have to refund me double the price!"

There was a pause on the other end, and soon an exasperated voice came through.

"It will work!! If worst comes to worst, I’ll go request my master to issue a decree!!"

Lin Xin was shocked.

It seemed that Dugu Lin had been pushed to the brink of desperation, otherwise, she would not have made such a shameless statement.

Betraying one’s teacher for money...

"This matter... has escalated a bit too high..." he muttered to himself, turning to walk towards his own wooden hut.

Dugu Lin’s teacher was one of the three Supreme Elders of the Songlin Sword Sect, one of the few Nascent Soul Daoist Masters! His surname was Yu, given name Kai, styled Mingxin, and he was respectfully known as Daoist Master Mingxin.

Lin Xin, having read through the records, knew that this Daoist Master, even within the Sect itself, was truly the first in combat strength, but was an unsociable person who disliked managing affairs. He had three disciples; the first one was Fairy Yuzhu, the second was True Monarch Qingxiao, and the third was the recently accepted Dugu Lin.

Back in his wooden hut, he lit the Array Plate lantern, and a thread of Spiritual Energy supplied the lighting Array Plate, which could last several hours. This was a small lighting Array Plate he had made himself that could stick to the wall like a suction cup.

Ever since his Formation Talismans had greatly improved, combined with the fact that he had become a wealthy big shot, he would casually get all sorts of materials for testing. Just producing this small, palm-sized lighting Array Plate on the wall cost over a thousand Jade Money. It was truly extravagant!

Sitting in front of a small wooden table.

He casually flipped through some analysis he had written before. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)