Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 380 - 374 Journey Part Two

Chapter 380: Chapter 374 Journey Part Two

"How dare you speak to me like that?" Rongyan could no longer hold back and stood up in an attempt to argue, but Wang Peng swiftly pulled her back.

"Alright, alright, let’s all say less," he intervened.

He glanced over at Lin Xin, who, since the day he had met him, possessed a calm and shrewdness entirely unsuited for someone of his age. At this moment, he too lightly shook his head at him.

After much persuasion, he finally managed to calm the two women down. Seeing that no one was arguing with her anymore, the woman also calmed down somewhat and reluctantly moved back to her seat with the help of the young man pulling her.

"I’m telling you, if it weren’t for you, I would’ve already..."

Her loud cursing could still be heard from afar.

Lin Xin sat in his seat, gripping the back of the chair in front of him, suddenly feeling a bizarre sense of dejà vu as if he were back on a long-distance bus on Earth.

Outside, the carriage kept moving downwards, and aside from the unseeable modern facilities, everything else looked exactly like his past life.

The outside rushed past, a blur of grey stones and dust-covered ground, the continuous rumble of the wheels lending an unreal sensation to Lin Xin as he snapped back to his thoughts.

"This caravan is just a lift along our way; we’ll split up once we reach the destination. Keeping our identities hidden is crucial, so just bear with it for now," Wang Peng whispered to Rongyan and Qiuling, especially to Qiuling.

Although the three were communicating through sound transmission, Lin Xin felt as if there were no barriers, easily overhearing their conversation.

Ever since he had balanced his attributes, his mental and willpower had significantly improved, and he suddenly discovered this ability.

The strengthening of his attributes had reached such a state that it was almost twice as strong as before he hadn’t absorbed the energy of the evil god.

A plain average of fifty attributes points was comparable to the early Golden Core Stage, but now, with over a hundred points, he might be near the later stages of the Golden Core Stage, according to practical estimations.

Of course, this was without using any other powers and only relying on physical combat.

As for the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique, reaching the Fourth Layer so quickly in his cultivation practice was considered a genius feat.

The Fourth Layer was equivalent to the Foundation Establishment Stage of a normal demonic practice. In other words, Lin Xin had only cultivated the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique for such a short time and had already achieved the cultivation level of a typical sorcerer’s Foundation Establishment Stage.

This rate was top-tier, both on the Righteous and the Demon Path.

"But facing the Yuan Jing, I still feel powerless..." he recalled the sensation when confronting the old Yuan Jing monster, feeling as though the whole universe was pressing down to obstruct him, every inch of air seemed hostile, unwilling to even allow him a sliver of oxygen to breathe.

"Even Golden Core Dao Seeking didn’t give me this feeling. It seems the gap between the Golden Core Stage and Yuan Jing is enormous. I just don’t know how much I need to elevate my attributes to genuinely contend against Yuan Jing level monsters."

He weighed this in his mind.

Lin Xin continued his cultivation practice idly, constantly refining the Star Force inside his body into Demonic Qi, which then condensed into new demonic cores.

Meanwhile, Wang Peng and the others were having an animated discussion with Jade Fox about the challenges of cultivation practice, of course also through sound transmission.

Time passed for an unknown duration until a muffled clang sounded.

The whole carriage suddenly tilted, seemingly rolling into a dip and getting stuck.

The oxen bellowed a few times but still couldn’t move, causing the carriage to sway a few times.

"What’s happening?"

The passengers inside the carriage started asking each other. Some stood up and tried to walk outside to see what was going on.

Lin Xin remained seated, and so did Jade Fox, Wang Peng, and the others.

Sounds of the caravan guards dismounting faintly reached them from outside.

"It’s a band of oxen!"

Someone shouted.

"A band of oxen..."

A monk seated at the front sighed in relief.

"It’s said that large groups of these oxen often appear here, migrating to distant places to overwinter."

"Band of oxen..." Lin Xin looked out the window.

In front of the caravan, a massive herd of black oxen, their eyes red with madness, charged past the side of the caravan energetically as if their strength was inexhaustible.

The already narrow mountain path became even more crowded.

Oddly, each of these oxen had only three legs—one in the front and two at the back—bouncing along and squeezing their way toward the caravan.

Baa~~~!

A sound similar to that of lambs reverberated continuously from the herd.

A few oxen ran past the carriage windows, briefly stopping and curiously glancing inside at the passengers.

"So, these are band oxen? What a strange breed," Lin Xin observed the creatures with a bit of curiosity.

Boom!!

Suddenly, a deafening explosion came from the vehicles ahead.

"Who’s there!?" the voice of the caravan leader boomed suddenly.

"It’s an ambush!"

The shout of the person was almost drowned out by the bawking of the oxen, barely audible.

"They’re after the cargo!"

The voice of that woman yelled.

The sounds of sword clashes faintly reached the inside of Lin Xin’s carriage. The caravan’s guards, all Swordsmen from Jianghu, in such times, if they hadn’t made it into an Immortal Sect to become sorcerers, would practice just enough martial arts to act as bodyguards.

Or, those with a bit of capital could attempt to apply for administrative posts. After all, whether it be Sects or clans, every faction needed clerks to coordinate various matters.

The saying went ’the poor excel in scholastic endeavors; the rich excel in martial arts.’ Those who truly needed to master martial arts were of no low level, possessing potent offensive capabilities.

Anyone reputable in Jianghu wasn’t bad; at the very least, they were powerful enough to dominate a county.

"We’re close to Wu Xiang Iron Ridge, it’s best not to reveal our identities. Let’s just watch and wait," Lin Xin communicated.

The slightly eager Wang Peng and others gradually suppressed their urges, striving to remain calm.

The noises outside grew louder and nearer, as if some people were fiercely debating.

The people who had left the coach had also returned, their faces looking somewhat ugly.

"There are many people," one of them whispered.

"Could it be the people hunting us have arrived?!" A few distressed young masters and ladies seated on the other side whispered, their expressions somewhat panicked.

"Big brother wouldn’t go to such extremes..." one of the older men said uncertainly.

Clang!

Bang!!

Suddenly, a noise came from outside, seeming like weapons being knocked away, then sticking into the side of the coach.

The people inside all shrank back in fright.

Everyone had seen the identity of the previously sealed spirit; it was clearly a cultivator. The force capable of suppressing even a cultivator was clearly not something those present could provoke.

The burly men who had been somewhat aggressive before now dared not even fart.

The distressed couple huddled together, seemingly crying.

A few monks bowed their heads, chanting Buddhist Scriptures.

However, in the messy crowd, there was surprisingly a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl leaning at the window, fearlessly looking outside, appearing quite excited; she looked like a beggar or something of the sort.

The noise outside grew louder.

Jade Fox closed her eyes for a moment, then lifted her face.

"It’s just a robbery, it should be fine once we give them money."

Wang Peng and two others nodded, their Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation allowed them to sense clearly what was happening outside. Even if not, they had many similar spell methods to assist.

"Let’s wait a bit."

Wang Peng whispered to comfort his wife.

After waiting a bit more, the young beggar at the window suddenly shrank back, hiding in a crack.

Then the coach door was kicked open with a bang.

A few obese men wobbled in with knives, followed by the sealed spirit and two other individuals in red robes from the caravan.

"These are all good-hearted folks picked up along the way, there’s nothing worth looting here. Those who had anything valuable have taken the airship, who would still be slowly traveling by land?" the sealed spirit said coldly, a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth, apparently having been captured after being injured.

"It’s not up to you to decide whether there’s anything worth looting," one of the fat men said impatiently.

He began scanning everyone one by one.

Soon his gaze fixed on Qiuling and Jade Fox at the very back, unable to move away.

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

The fat man, while making a sound of sucking saliva, wobbled towards the back.

"Aren’t there a few pretty good items here?"

A murderous intent flashed in Wang Peng’s eyes, ready to make a move.

But he was subtly pressed down by Lin Xin.

"Not yet..."

As the fat man walked straight towards Jade Fox and was still a few seats away, suddenly a green figure flashed abruptly, blocking him.

"Chen He, are you trying to ruin my regulations?"

The sudden appearance was of a young man in green clothes, wearing a tight hoop around his head.

"Uh... I wouldn’t dare..." The fat man somehow trembled upon seeing the man in green clothes, appearing to be somewhat afraid, but he immediately stiffened.

"But Mr. Fei, you’re not our leader either. You shouldn’t have a say in this, should you?"

Before his words ended, the man swiftly kicked the fat man hard in the stomach.

Bang!!

The coach was broken open with the kick, and the fat man was directly knocked out, falling onto the muddy ground, nearly trampled by a passing group of oxen. He spat out a mouthful of old blood, looking either dead or severely injured.

The man turned back to look at Lin Xin and the others, his glance fleeting over Jade Fox’s tragically beautiful face, showing no hint of being moved.

"Cover yourselves up."

He dropped a sentence and was about to get off the coach.

"Brother, please wait."

Suddenly Lin Xin stood up and stopped him.

The man in green clothes turned around, his face expressionless as he stared at the latter.

"Is there anything? Speak less, watch less, you might live longer."

Wang Peng and others did not know why Lin Xin would suddenly stand up at this moment. But as the Crown Prince, he was shrewd and naturally had his reasons.

Instead, the sealed spirit and others all appeared anxious.

"You just escaped death and yet you stand up to court it?!" the sealed spirit could not help but shout out. "Just because someone saved you once doesn’t mean they’ll save you twice!"

Lin Xin smiled slightly. Looking at the man in green clothes, his eyes showed a faintly strange and mysterious gleam.

"Interesting... very interesting..."

The man in green’s face showed displeasure, and suddenly a silver spike appeared in his hand.

"What do you mean?"

Lin Xin looked at him but unexpectedly said something one might not anticipate.

"Do you really believe that you are still alive?"

At these words, the man’s eyes suddenly widened, and he froze in place as if electrocuted. His pupils lost focus instantly.