Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 324 - 317: Lurking Below

Chapter 324: Chapter 317: Lurking Below

"Shamelessness is how one survives better and lives more comfortably," the chubby man sneered a few times before turning to leave.

The remaining members of the small squad and Ming Qiao all had rough, labored breathing.

They struggled to calm their chaotic Qi-Blood.

"Wang He has grown stronger,"

said Gu Lince with a serious expression.

"He’s here for me, everyone needn’t worry. As long as you leave on your own, he won’t trouble you," Ming Qiao said as she let out a breath. Her gaze, however, was fixed on Xia Haiji who had been silent from the start.

"Haiji, how are you?" She walked over, intending to pat his shoulder.

"I’m fine," Lin Xin avoided her hand without showing any emotion.

A flicker of something unusual passed through Ming Qiao’s eyes, but she quickly suppressed it.

"Don’t touch Haiji!" Mei Zi shouted, rushing forward like a mother hen protecting her chick to stand in front of Lin Xin. "It’s all your fault he’s like this!"

"I..." A look of helplessness flashed across Ming Qiao’s face.

The others were speechless.

Gu Lince sighed and exchanged a glance with Chen Fan, both shaking their heads.

Ming Qiao was a girl they had encountered in the Central Prefecture, at that time being chased by Wang He, and the small squad had saved her. But Wang He nearly destroyed the squad’s combat effectiveness with ease; if it weren’t for the captain, Gu Lince, using a desperate one-time magic artifact, the squad might have been wiped out.

After that, Xia Haiji somehow fell for Ming Qiao. He was seriously injured several times because of her and made enemies with many skilled fighters.

Ming Qiao always appeared genuinely distressed and sincere, leaving no flaws that could be detected. It seemed as if she would abandon everything to elope with Xia Haiji, if it weren’t for Wang He forcing them apart.

As a result, Xia Haiji came to regard Wang He as a thorn in his side. He was repeatedly injured because of him and often served Ming Qiao like a lackey, a stark contrast to his formerly cheerful and open personality, now replaced with a dark and calm demeanor.

But what puzzled Ming Qiao now was that Xia Haiji, who’d always considered her favors a blessing, was for the first time rejecting her touch.

A wave of complex emotions crossed her mind, and she exhaled.

"Forget it, Haiji, don’t you have something special to say to me today?" she asked, looking at Xia Haiji with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

Lin Xin, who had no idea what she was talking about, continued to remain silent.

Ming Qiao’s eyes brimmed with deep disappointment. She sent her voice directly to him, bypassing Mei Zi who stood in the way.

"Have you forgotten what you promised me?"

Since Lin Xin did not even know who she was before, let alone any private agreements Xia Haiji had made with her, he could only keep silent.

Ming Qiao shook her head in disappointment and turned to leave.

The others remained silent for a while before the atmosphere slowly recovered a bit of its previous state.

"Alright, alright, let’s not think about Wang He now. We’ll deal with him later. I’ve got a collaboration here for the squad. If we succeed, each of us will get three Demon Talisman Seeds at once! The reward is very high! This way, we can get by for several more years,"

Gu Lince clapped his hands, redirecting the attention of the group.

"Three seeds each, and one mission will last us a long time. What’s the collaboration about, Captain?" Mei Zi asked eagerly, seemingly back to her normal self.

Little did they know that Lin Xin’s mind was churning, far from calm.

They certainly had ways to obtain Demon Talisman Seeds other than hunting!!

A conclusion he drew instantly resounded in his mind.

Lin Xin felt increasingly excited.

Demon Talisman Seeds... If he could gather enough of them... His downcast eyes began to glow.

With that thought, he slowly triggered the secret technique that detected the presence of Demon Talisman Seeds. Suddenly, the surroundings were filled with dense red dots of all sizes, that drilled into his mind like images, allowing him to clearly mark their locations without needing to see them.

"When do we leave?" he suddenly asked.

Gu Lince thought for a moment.

"We shouldn’t delay. Everyone has their own matters to attend to, so let’s set out by noon tomorrow and return early. I’ll go notify the other team we’re collaborating with. Finish any trading or purchases you need to do today,"

"Understood," Mei Zi and Chen Fan responded in turn. Then Gu Lince looked at Lin Xin.

Lin Xin quickly followed with a response.

"Got it."

Seeming to understand, Gu Lince patted Lin Xin on the shoulder without saying a word, then turned and left.

Lin Xin watched his receding figure.

Inside, his anticipation grew even more. These descendants of the Central Prefecture surely knew alternative ways to replenish Demon Talisman Seeds. They had always been consuming Demon Talisman Seeds, which couldn’t be limitless, so there must be some method for a continual supply.

Perhaps this time, he might gradually get closer to the truth!

If he could get enough Demon Talisman Seeds...

For the first time, his heart grew scorching hot with excitement.

Afterwards, everyone went their separate ways, seeking exchanges based on their needs.

Lin Xin made a round of the region. The descendants of the Central Prefecture set up impromptu stalls, displaying items they wanted to trade, then waited for exchanges.

He approached a small stall where, conspiculously, a tiny bottle made of transparent glaze contained a red elixir.

The elixir was the size of a pigeon’s egg, crimson as blood, faintly reflecting a soft luster.

"Elixir of Transformation, it’s rare to see one so large," Lin Xin said softly.

"Good that the Daoist recognizes it, saves me the trouble of explaining," the stall’s Taoist replied in a strange local accent.

Lin Xin’s gaze moved past the Elixir of Transformation, landing instead on a few Demon Talisman Seeds lying next to it.

"How much for one Demon Talisman Seed?"

"Market price," the Taoist replied without looking up.

"And what’s the market price?" Lin Xin persisted.

Only then did the Taoist lift his eyes to look at him.

"Ten Returned Origin Pills or thirty pieces of Spirit Jade."

Thirty pieces!

Lin Xin’s heart leapt with joy. That price was indeed steep for an average cultivator; previously in the Southern Prefecture, a White Tiger Demon King only possessed a few pieces of Spirit Jade, and here in the Central Prefecture, Foundation Establishment Cultivators at most had around a dozen, so a Demon Talisman Seed fetching thirty pieces was effectively a measure of buying power.

Thus, for the average child of the Hidden Prefectures, this price was extremely expensive. But for Lin Xin.

With the riches of a Crown Prince now stowed in his storage bag, a mere thirty pieces of Spirit Jade really wasn’t much.

He glanced at the stall’s Demon Talisman Seeds, all five of them.

Lin Xin made a decisive gesture.

"I’ll take them all."

The Taoist was momentarily stunned, but quickly saw a Jade Token appear in Lin Xin’s hand—the standard token recognized by all major banks in the Central Prefecture.

Passing the Jade Token over, the Taoist inspected it, then checked the amount with his Spiritual Energy, and made the trade—one hand passing the money and the other handing over the goods.

The five Demon Talisman Seeds instantly ended up in Lin Xin’s pouch.

Adding to the six he had acquired earlier, he now owned a total of eleven, the first time he ever had such a large number of Demon Talisman Seeds.

But that was all, as that was the extent of the cash he carried. There were other stalls with Demon Talisman Seeds for sale, and he had already inquired about their prices—they were all the standard market rate.

Others mostly bartered, exchanging items for Demon Talisman Seeds.

"To have so many Demon Talisman Seeds available for trade, there must be sources other than hunting," Lin Xin understood as he walked to another stall.

There were no Demon Talisman Seeds at this stall, and even if there were, he couldn’t afford any more. Since there were still many available, he felt no urgency to buy them up.

"How much for this book?"

He squatted down, picking up a thin, yellow booklet. The cover was handwritten with a few characters: ’Guide to the Hidden Prefecture.’

"I wrote it myself," said the middle-aged woman running the stall, her expression indifferent. "Are you sure you want to buy it?"

Lin Xin flipped through the booklet. The yellow pages contained some precautions for entering and leaving the Hidden Prefecture, summaries of experience, and detailed intelligence on known realms within the Hidden Prefecture. This was only a small part of the first volume; the rest had not been written, obviously meant as a sample for potential readers.

"I’m sure, some details are indeed quite good," Lin Xin nodded.

"One hundred Shell Gold," the woman stated her price.

Lin Xin didn’t haggle, directly giving her a small fragment of Spirit Jade.

Although he had resolved not to enter the Hidden Prefecture today, the information still held its reference value.

Taking the remaining booklets with him, he browsed the other goods—various high-level one-time use runes, elixirs, healing medicines, magic artifacts, and materials. He didn’t lack any of this, so he returned to where his team was stationed and quietly waited for the others.

Soon, Mei Zi and Chen Fan both returned.

"Got a new dagger. The guy who does Artifact Refining isn’t bad; he even attached three types of strengthening runes to it," Mei Zi said, beaming with joy.

Lin Xin glanced at the dagger in her hand; it was the kind typically used by cultivators of the Intent Level.

These were the kinds of items most children of the Hidden Prefecture had for sale. As a matter of fact, many items at the Intent Level wouldn’t be bought frequently by anyone, even the children of the Hidden Prefecture, because their equipment consumption was extremely high and a lot of money went into buying Demon Talisman Seeds, to ensure sufficient numbers when needed. Thus, many children from the Hidden Prefecture were equipped quite modestly.

The dagger Mei Zi held was, for Lin Xin, akin to the improved version of the Solar Yang Talisman Sword he had crafted before.

It wasn’t much longer before Gu Lince returned with a grey cloth bag in hand.

"This time, it’s a real mission—we need to cooperate with another team. Once we’ve acquired enough Demon Talisman Seeds, we’ll go our separate ways and continue hunting to enhance our cultivation. Any problems with that?"

"None," Chen Fan shook his head.

Mei Zi raised her hand.

"Any specific details?"

Gu Lince nodded.

"We’ll head to our accommodation and talk on the way. This time, we’re tasked with an investigation."

"An investigation!? Could it be—?!" Before Lin Xin could even react, Mei Zi and Chen Fan’s expressions turned slightly grim.

"That’s right. To get three Demon Talisman Seeds each for nothing—did you really think it would be that easy?" Gu Lince said sternly.

Suddenly, the atmosphere within the team grew heavy. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)