Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 351 - 344: Travels 5

Chapter 351: Chapter 344: Travels 5

Ambling among the willow trees brushed by the riverside breeze.

Lin Xin and his servant blended in with the crowd out for an evening stroll, leisurely, as if they had not noticed the hurried red-clothed government officer passing nearby.

"Master, I heard that the great cultivators have a spell that can pinpoint a person’s location, and here we are walking so openly in the city. What if..." Jade Fox looked worried.

"The Kun Ji Positioning Technique takes four days to cast, within which we can simply leave," Lin Xin said with a smile. "Such spells all have either long or short preparation times, don’t worry about it."

"But what if they lock down the city..."

"First of all, you’re giving us too much credit," Lin Xin said, laughing. "Though I indeed caused many casualties, there are rules among cultivators, and those of the Yuan Jing Level should not interfere lightly with lesser disturbances. That’s one point."

"Secondly, this city is bustling with life, teeming with people. To pinpoint one person among such a complex crowd, the cultivation required, I’m afraid even the average Yuan Jing Great Cultivator wouldn’t be able to accomplish it."

"So, staying in the city is the safest option for us?" Hearing this, Jade Fox let out a small sigh of relief.

"Safe? Perhaps," Lin Xin said, smiling enigmatically.

He withdrew his attention from the outside world and looked directly at his own status bar.

Since he had killed the twin brothers almost by ambush and devoured their demonic bodies and qi, the speed at which his Yuan Dou Demonic Technique advanced had begun increasing rapidly again.

Or rather, the demonic qi and the power of slaying, accumulated in the Underworld, synergized and sped up the improvement of his Yuan Dou Demonic Technique to a remarkable rate.

Yuan Dou Demonic Technique—Second Layer, Primitive Demon Body Expansion Phase (16%).

Lin Xin did not know what this expansion phase was for, but he felt a slight improvement in strength even without transforming into a demon body. It seemed to serve the process of balancing the demon body with his original one.

After absorbing two clouds of demonic qi, it jumped from 1% at the Second Layer directly to 16%.

The Yuan Dou Demonic Technique consists of nine layers; generally, the first three layers are not too troublesome. With sufficient slaying experience and some brushes with death, gathering enough demonic qi can easily lead to a breakthrough. The real challenges are the middle three and the last three layers.

The two of them walked slowly, and unknowingly, there were fewer and fewer people around them, while the willow trees near the river began to thin out as well.

To the left was a lane exclusively for carriages, beyond the road by the lane stood some old manor attic buildings. Most were red doors and black walls, somewhat eerie.

Under the riverside willows ahead, mostly, there were old men sitting at small tables playing chess, and occasionally a few children running around playing happily, laughter and frolic filling the air.

Lin Xin looked at this harmonious scene and let out a slight sigh.

"Who would have thought the Red Spine Sect, portrayed as tyrannical and haughty, would have a jurisdiction even milder and more stable than those of the Righteous Path..."

Jade Fox glanced at him cautiously.

"Master might not know... over here, the term ’Righteous Path’ is often used as a derogatory term to mock others for their hypocrisy..."

"A derogatory term?" Lin Xin shook his head, and before he knew it, they had crossed the roadway and came before a black building arranged in a figure-eight.

This building seemed to be a place for storing books. A sparse flow of people entering and exiting to borrow books could be seen at the entrance.

Dressed as a middle-aged man and woman of seemingly affable appearance, Lin Xin and his companion walked in through the unguarded main door of the building.

Inside was a not-so-large courtyard, with some people who had come to borrow books talking to each other, mostly younger individuals, with fewer older ones.

"Golden Selection Pavilion."

Jade Fox looked up at the plaque hanging on the front of the pavilion and whispered softly.

Her voice was crisp, completely incongruent with her disguised age, attracting a few glances from people standing around flipping through books.

Lin Xin didn’t speak, but walked straight into the pavilion. Jade Fox followed closely behind.

"A payment of one Silver Coin for entry," the old gatekeeper, half-squinting his eyes while leaning against a table at the entrance, spoke listlessly.

"Why is it one Silver Coin?" Lin Xin didn’t go forward but stood at the doorway, looking at the old man with a smile.

"Why?" The old man looked up and surveyed him.

"Because more would mean too high a threshold, and less would show a lack of reverence."

"It’s no wonder that Rue, as the previous generation’s Successor of Wan Shulin, orients his profound cultivation to willingly guard this mere Scripture Pavilion," Lin Xin said with a smile.

"Do you know me?" Rue’s brow furrowed slightly, scrutinizing Lin Xin more closely. Clearly, he had no recollection of the man before him.

"I came to make a small deal with elder Rue," Lin Xin whispered.

"What kind of deal?" Rue glanced around, noticing that people nearby had started to pay attention to the two, who were not acting normally. After all, Lin Xin was standing at the entrance, not moving and conversing strangely with a gatekeeper; anyone would be curious about such an odd spectacle.

Lin Xin glanced around, stood up, and summoned a young man to give him a few instructions before waving Lin Xin over.

"Follow me."

The three of them slipped out from the side of the courtyard and entered a loft on the left, where a chubby little boy with a topknot bun, dressed in split pants, was playing with mud on the ground, his clothes splotched with patches of dung-yellow.

"Grandpa!"

Upon seeing Lin Xin enter, the chubby boy scrambled to his feet and ran over.

"Get out of here! How many times have I told you not to play with mud! You’re always so filthy, the Qin family girl won’t even look at you when she sees you!" Lin Xin scolded as he grabbed the boy’s chubby cheeks and twisted them around.

"What are you doing, Grandpa!"

Picking up the chubby boy, he tossed him out into the courtyard to frolic on his own, then Lin Xin took a seat with Lin Xin to one side.

Efficiently, he made two cups of tea—one for Lin Xin and one for himself.

"So, what do you want to buy? Let’s be clear, the price here is fixed, if you want to bargain, go somewhere else."

"I understand your rules, Sir Lin Xin," Lin Xin said with a smile, "The junior would like to purchase all the Demon Talisman Seeds you have. Also, if possible, could Wan Shulin act on my behalf to procure more Don Talisman Seeds? The price is negotiable."

"Demon Talisman Seeds?" Lin Xin asked no further why he needed so many; in his line of work, respecting client’s privacy was the highest courtesy.

"These items vary in price. I do have some in stock, but I’m not interested in Spirit Jade. I deal in Magic Artifacts and magic treasures, and you can trade those with me."

"Magic Artifacts and magic treasures? That works for me." Lin Xin had collected many storage equipment items in his battles, which included magic artifacts from his defeated foes. Since these items could not be used by others unless their ritual refining vital blood was cleansed, he had simply neglected them in his Storage Bag. Now there was an opportunity to deal with them all.

"Sir Lin Xin, how many Demon Talisman Seeds do you have in total?"

"About twenty-three, one of which is dark gold. Since you need so many Demon Talisman Seeds, I presume it’s for the Son of the Dark Mansion or someone related. Just provide me with two Fourth Grade magic treasures, and all these Demon Talisman Seeds are yours."

"Two Fourth Grade magic treasures?" Lin Xin’s eyes lit up, but not because they were too expensive—it was actually quite cheap.

In his journey, he had obtained more than two Fourth Grade magic treasures from just the Jade Fox King and that creature.

But then he thought, except for the Son of the Dark Mansion, no one else would need so many Demon Talisman Seeds.

"You guys buy in bulk, so offer a slightly lower price. When selling, you can also push the price down a bit, so it keeps things flowing," Lin Xin casually mentioned as he made another cup of tea for himself.

Lin Xin realized that he was being treated as a wholesaler, buying Demon Talisman Seeds to then sell to other Sons of the Dark Mansion. He didn’t point it out.

He casually took out two Fourth Grade magic treasures from his Storage Bag, which were artifacts used by Daoist Masters of the Golden Core realm.

The grades are as follows: First Grade is Innate, Second Grade is Qi Cultivation, Third Grade is Foundation Establishment, Fourth Grade is Golden Core, and Fifth Grade is Yuan Jing.

For the current Lin Xin, anything below Fourth Grade was almost worthless, only kept because his storage space was large and he could keep stuffing it with whatever he found.

Since leaving the Yuan Dou Demon Sect, his Storage Bag had already filled up by a third, including consumables and materials taken from those he had slain, cluttered with unidentifiable materials, various grades of magic artifacts, special nature Array Plates, and mysterious pills whose effects were unknown. Most abundant were Shell Gold and banknotes, the most circulated currency in Central Prefecture.

After a rough count, the total amount of Shell Gold he had plundered was over ten million. This wasn’t even counting the amount on the anonymous banknotes, which could be withdrawn at any time. Including the banknotes, it might well be over a hundred million.

The value of Shell Gold was only slightly less than Jade Money from the Southern Prefecture—three pieces of Shell Gold equated to two pieces of Jade Money.

This hundred million Shell Gold was equivalent to seventy to eighty million Jade Money. In Central Prefecture, if converted to Spirit Jade, it would also amount to hundreds of thousands of pieces.

Keep in mind that during his time at the Manor, he had accumulated tens of millions of Jade Money over many years. Now, in just a short time, he had gained tens of millions of Jade Money, which goes to show how much wealthier Central Prefecture was compared to Southern Prefecture.

Of course, there were also differences due to levels of realm and cultivation.

After agreeing on the trading price, the two entered a sealed trading room. After exchanging magic treasures and Demon Talisman Seeds.

"Black goods... I still have to cleanse the vital blood trace myself; the earlier price was too low," Lin Xin frowned as he looked at the two greenish-blue curved saber artifacts in front of him, both Fourth Grade, each imbued with a spiritual energy-amplifying ability and the effect of promoting plant growth.

"Then I’ll add one more," said Lin Xin, not bothering to bargain and directly taking out another similarly curved saber. This magic treasure was part of a set, and he didn’t remember whom he had taken it from. Nonetheless, it was Fourth Grade, on the level of a Daoist Master of the Golden Core.

"Here are your Demon Talisman Seeds,"

Lin Xin gently wiped the side of the artifact.

Suddenly, a row of Demon Talisman Seeds appeared on the table, one of which was an unusual dark gold color.

"Sir Lin Xin, I’m fairly new to this business. I’ve seen the usual Demon Talisman Seeds, but what’s the difference between this pale gold and dark gold color and regular Demon Talisman Seeds?" Lin Xin humbly asked, having wanted to ask this question for a while.

Back in the Southern Prefecture, he had seen a pale gold Demon Talisman Seed on a little bee creature. If not for a series of changes that followed, he might have already connected with the bee creature and started trading Demon Talisman Seeds with him.

Now that a dark gold one had appeared, he took the opportunity to directly ask.