Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 325 - 318 Departure Part One

Chapter 325: Chapter 318 Departure Part One

"Investigation?"

In a forest several dozen miles from Mount Huang Temple.

The campfire blazed brightly as the small team gathered around it.

Gu Lince took out a black cloth with a map embroidered on it and spread it out in front of the others.

"This is the map," he said.

He then produced a small black vial from his hand, from which he dripped droplets of ink-like substance on the map, evenly smearing it with his hand.

Instantly, some small dots on the map began to glow red, while some text also appeared.

After finishing these tasks, he took out a stick of yellow incense as thick as a finger and, with a swipe of his finger over the tip, immediately lit it.

Wisps of gray-white smoke slowly rose and, as if alive, formed a circle around the group without dispersing.

"The captain’s art of Fragrant Soul Path grows more skilled by the hour; you must be close to breaking through to the Fragrant Soul Realm, right?" Chen Fan said with a smile.

"It’s still early; I’ve just gained some new insight, which has shortened the ritual time for the incense," Gu Lince replied with a smile.

He looked around at the group.

Meizi, Chen Fan, Xia Haiji, and himself made up the entire team for this investigative mission.

"This investigation is to be conducted in reality, so there’s no need to go to the You Mansion. Everyone, rest assured," he said.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xin also breathed a sigh of relief internally. He had promised the Red Leaf Sword Master not to enter the You Mansion on his own accord. If this mission were to take place there, he would have had to give serious consideration to whether it was worth it.

"What place are we investigating exactly?" Meizi asked seriously. "Every investigation mission, without exception, is the most dangerous and troublesome. No wonder the reward is so generous."

"It’s the Outer Regions," Gu Lince said without hiding anything, speaking openly.

"I knew it," Chen Fan exhaled. "I had a feeling it was about exploring the Outer Regions or something of that sort. It must also be a secret mission from the Demon Race, right?"

"Who the client is remains unknown, we just have to do what we need to," Gu Lince stated indifferently. "In addition, aside from us, there will be another team not from Mount Huang joining us, and both teams will cooperate and act together," he added.

"Another team? It seems they still don’t trust the strength of our team," Chen Fan scoffed coldly. "I just hope it doesn’t turn into a disguised bodyguard and escort mission like last time."

"It won’t," Gu Lince shook his head. "Missions in the Outer Regions are inherently perilous, especially investigative ones. We are definitely the pioneers, exploring parts of the Outer Regions where no one has ever been. Apart from us, there will inevitably be another research and investigation team working in tandem. That’s the old rule."

"Do we know who it is?" Xia Haiji asked.

"I don’t know, they will meet us at this location," Gu Lince answered.

As his words faded, he suddenly turned to look outside the forest.

In that direction, footsteps sounded right on cue.

A group of men and women in red robes emerged from the darkness.

The leader was a bald, burly man with a large silver hoop through his nose.

"Captain Gu Lince?"

"Captain Jian An?" Gu Lince stood up, turning to face the other. "Has your team assembled?"

"We’re all here, captain. We can depart whenever you decide," the bald man, Jian An, replied with a smile that revealed his glaringly white teeth.

"You don’t need me to tell you how dangerous this mission is, right? When the time comes, I hope for your full cooperation to prevent any unexpected events," Gu Lince said gravely.

"No problem, no problem at all," Jian An responded hastily. Under the firelight, his somewhat pale eyes stealthily scanned the other people around the campfire, without making a sound.

"Then everything is ready. Shall we depart?" Gu Lince confirmed once again, this time not only looking at the people in red but also addressing his own team members.

"No problem," Meizi replied.

"Don’t worry," Chen Fan smiled.

Lin Xin nodded silently.

The people in red robes also nodded one by one in silence.

"Very well,"

Gu Lince stretched out his hand and pressed down.

Boom!

The ground suddenly shook violently. Then, a burst of bright yellow dust and smoke instantly spread out.

The dense yellow fog quickly enveloped both teams. Suddenly, it was so thick you couldn’t see your hand in front of you, and yellow fog was everywhere.

Lin Xin couldn’t see the figures of the other team members, but a pristine white rune, only as large as an egg, slowly lit up beneath his feet.

He recognized the meaning of the rune and hesitated for a moment before gently stepping on it.

Whoosh!

A piercing whooshing sound of the air filled his ears.

He felt as though he was being carried up into the air by the fog, flying towards the distance.

"Everyone, be careful. This is a one-time space mist. It will naturally thin out as we approach our destination. Make sure to be aware of your surroundings when we land,"

The voice of the red-robed bald man advising them came from not far away.

Gu Lince, on the other hand, made no sound. Perhaps he thought the other members of his team should already know this and therefore saw no need to say more.

The sensation of flying through the air lasted quite a while. Lin Xin estimated it was about half an hour when the mist gradually began to fall.

Unconsciously, the sensation of solid ground underfoot returned.

The mist also slowly started to thin out and fade away.

Only then did Lin Xin gradually see what kind of environment surrounded him.

It was pitch black.

Every wisp of cloud was as black as ink.

He was being lifted by the fog, floating at least ten thousand meters high in the air.

Looking down below.

The same pitch-black hills undulated endlessly like the acne-ridden face of a black man. Some areas featured slow-swaying black forests reminiscent of underwater plants. The trees, like oversized black hair, were constantly swayed by wave-like undulations.

Some rotund creatures, resembling buttons, crawled slowly across the ground.

Some paused as they moved, while others had a split on their backs revealing a single blood-red eye.

"This is the Outer Regions targeted by the Space Escape Talisman. Let’s go down, everyone be on guard," Gu Lince telepathically communicated to everyone.

Only then did Lin Xin notice that everyone from both teams was enveloped in yellow fog, floating high in the air and now swiftly descending.

The feeling of having their feet solidly on the ground was actually the result of a colorful patched little boat released by Gu Lince.

The boat, carrying everyone on its back, was gradually taking over the flying function of the slowly dissipating yellow fog, flying downward.

Passing through a few sparse black clouds, the motley boat neared the ground.

Whoosh...

The boat descended from the sky and gently landed on the edge of a black hill, sliding a short distance with a hissing sound before coming to a complete stop.

"Disembark."

Gu Lince and the others jumped down from the boat one after another.

The people in red robes followed suit.

Both team leaders simultaneously raised a point of white light in their hands that floated above everyone’s heads, then with a boom, it exploded completely, transforming into two white canopies that covered everyone’s heads.

"The Isolation Talisman can only last half a day, Meizi," Gu Lince said, turning to Meizi.

"Leave it to me."

Meizi reached for a gleaming little box at her waist and tossed it forward.

With the wind, the box expanded, quickly growing from the size of a palm to a rectangular dark yellow little car, with more than a dozen wheels underneath that somewhat resembled a tank.

The vehicle, looking like a square rectangular chariot with windows and doors, had a faint white Rune circuitry misting its surface.

"This is a mobile Rune Vehicle that can provide us with Rune aura support," explained Gu Lince. "It has three effects: accelerated recovery, enhanced vision, and toxin resistance."

"That’s quite impressive!" the bald man in red robes nodded appreciatively. "Next, according to the map, we need to draw a sufficiently detailed new map of this area and understand and eliminate potential dangers and threats as much as possible."

"Of course," agreed Gu Lince.

"Haiji," he looked at Lin Xin, "you go north and check within a ten-mile range. Return in less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn."

"Alright." Seeing his tone, it was evident that the original Xia Haiji was used to doing advanced reconnaissance. Lin Xin didn’t waste words and walked directly towards the north.

"Meizi, you head south. Same restriction."

"Understood."

As for the removal of dangers from the east and west sides and underground, it was up to Gu Lince and the Red Leaf Sword Master to handle it personally, while Chen Fan walked to the side of the Rune Vehicle and closed his eyes, apparently doing something.

Lin Xin carefully stepped on the pitch-black earth, feeling remarkably soft underfoot as if stepping on a plush wool carpet. The air was impossible to breathe, filled with a turbid stench like that of a sewer.

Glancing back at the Rune Vehicle’s position, which seemed naturally far away, a pristine white Rune canopy was rotating in mid-air.

"This is convenient. The height of this canopy should allow monks within a ten-mile radius to see its position," he thought to himself.

According to the displayed functions of the runes, it seemed only those recognized could see the canopy’s white light within a certain range, which served as location positioning. Others couldn’t see the light.

Turning back, Lin Xin walked out of the Rune Vehicle’s covered range. Apart from behind him, all other directions were shrouded in darkness, with only the dim moonlight filtering through the sky. Hazy and indistinct.

Moving carefully forward, a creature resembling a black cake, over three meters tall and four meters wide, soon appeared ahead.

This creature moved sluggishly, its body oozing with sticky black mucus that made squishy sounds as it shifted its body toward Lin Xin’s left side.

Each movement resulted in plopping sounds as it expelled air through the pores that circled its body, evenly distributed.

Lin Xin cautiously approached and observed the cake-like creature closely.

The creature’s skin was covered in sticky black slime, and it moved unusually slowly. Surprisingly, its massive size belied a speed that was even slower than an ordinary person’s walking pace.

Circling around it, Lin Xin took out a Resentment Talisman and channeled Spiritual Energy into it. No reaction.

"No resentment energy, it seems it’s not a creature born of death resentment," he mused.

Then he extracted a small palm-sized Array Plate, densely engraved with various special Runes.

Three differently colored gems were inlaid around the edges: red, green, and yellow.

Upon channeling Spiritual Energy into it, the red gem lit up immediately.

"There’s potent poison."

Lin Xin ceased breathing, relying on inner breathing to use his Spiritual Energy, naturally unafraid of the poisonous gas the creature released.

This Array Plate was distributed by the team leader, specifically to test the concentration of toxins in the surrounding air.

******************************

On the eastern side of the hills.

A creature resembling a black cake, over five meters tall, was smashed by a dark Meteor Hammer, shattering with a crisp sound into a large puddle of sticky yellow-black muck.

The Meteor Hammer swiftly looped back to a red-robed woman’s hand. A flash of red light appeared in her eyes, which then slowly faded. Taking a look around, she was about to step over the black cake when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Shen Jing?"

She turned her head, looking towards the dark shadows to her right.

"It’s me."

A red-robed man with his head and face covered by his hooded cloak slowly stepped out.