Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 438 - 432 Arrangement 1

Chapter 438: Chapter 432 Arrangement 1

Quan Sheying knew very well that she was injured, but the secret treasure... A trace of conflict passed through her eyes.

"Fine! I’ll leave it in your care for now, since the emergence of the secret treasure is known to the world, you’ll have to look out for yourself," she conceded.

She was severely wounded at the moment and couldn’t exert the full power of her fusion with the demon body. Engaging now would surely allow Zhou Huaisha, who was hot on her trail, to take advantage of her weakened state.

The secret treasure was of no use to Lin Xin; leaving it temporarily with him was fine, and she could always come back for it later.

Having made up her mind, Quan Sheying didn’t hesitate; she turned and leaped, soaring hundreds of meters into the sky in a blink and riding off on a black cloud that flickered away.

Lin Xin watched her departure, his eyes struggling with murderous intent and distortion, finding it difficult to quash the thought of pursuing her.

Taking a deep breath to stabilize the changes within him, his hair slowly returned to black.

With a flicker, he appeared directly in front of Zhao Ke and the others.

He pulled a wide robe from his storage bag and draped it over himself.

"Let’s go, find a place to have a proper talk," he suggested.

"Yes!" Zhao Ke replied, startled, and quickly responded loudly.

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

"Here it comes, the finest Fisherman’s Tune, aged eighteen years!"

The waiter heavily placed a large red jar of wine, over a meter wide, on the table.

Lin Xin was seated at the edge of the table, having changed out of his Confucian scholar attire into that of a young master.

There was still an air about him that hinted at something demon-like.

Zhao Ke and Ye Qingchang had hesitated for a long time before deciding not to share a table with him. Instead, they chose a nearby table to sit at.

The woman from the Heavenly Cloud Path was being held, her screams followed by a timidity like that of a frightened mouse, her face constantly cringing. She was obviously greatly traumatized.

Every so often, she would raise her eyes to look at Lin Xin with deep-seated fear and resentment etched in her gaze.

"This time... it was all thanks to Lin Big Brother. Otherwise, I would’ve been doomed!" Zhao Ke thought for a while and poured drinks for everyone, raising his own cup. "I’ll drink first to show my gratitude!"

"It was merely by chance," Lin Xin, who didn’t particularly enjoy drinking—treating it more as a casual beverage—sat at his seat and looked curiously at Zhao Ke.

"However, there is something strange about you. You carry a hint of the aura of a son of the netherworld."

"Isn’t it..." Zhao Ke chuckled dryly and showed a helpless expression.

"In the Divine Palace, I stumbled upon some good fortune, but I never imagined I’d obtain such a secret treasure that now has me chased for it. Everyone thinks I’ve inherited something enormously valuable, but this secret treasure hasn’t given me anything useful," he lamented.

"What do you mean?"

Lin Xin pursued the subject.

"I’ll take out the secret treasure for you to see," Zhao Ke said with a bitter smile.

He first looked around, then revealed his belly under Ye Qingchang’s nervously amused gaze.

On his navel was a purple egg, about the size of a chicken egg, with its round surface extending a purple thread. At the end of the thread was another egg, held in his hand.

"What is this? Are you incubating an egg?" Lin Xin was somewhat taken aback.

"This is..."

Zhao Ke, about to speak, was interrupted by a sudden commotion outside.

The sounds of a scuffle rapidly ensued. Over a dozen burly men with knives rushed in. At the sight of Zhao Ke and the others, they lit up with a blood glow, clearly Demonic Path Cultivators.

"The secret treasure is here!! Seize it!!!" one of them shouted, charging forward.

With a flick of Lin Xin’s finger, a blood-red Sword Qi transformed into a swift bird, flashing quickly throughout the tavern.

In an instant, all of the intruders bore a thin line of blood on their necks, their movements freezing.

They stood as rigid as statues.

Thud.

A chorus of thumps followed, and the dozen men instantly became corpses.

Blood slowly seeped out, spreading across the tavern floor.

The martial artists in the tavern, who were originally ready to watch the excitement, now felt tingling scalps and turned pale, taking care not even to breathe too loudly.

Everyone was petrified with fear.

The waiter meant to serve dishes sat down hard on the floor, tears and snot flowing from fright.

The shopkeeper huddled motionless behind the counter, like an ostrich burying its head.

Zhao Ke and his wife swallowed hard.

"Lin Big Brother... your cultivation has increased again... heh heh..."

Zhao Ke forced a smile and said, not sure what else to comment. Although these people came to snatch the secret treasure, such an instantaneous slaughter—from noise to silence—left them uncomfortable, even with all they had witnessed in the Divine Palace.

"You haven’t finished explaining," Lin Xin spoke as if nothing had happened, lightly sipping his drink. "What use is this secret treasure?"

"It’s useless. Besides blocking the Yuan Jing Domain and teleporting short distances, it’s been absorbing my Spiritual Energy the entire time!" Zhao Ke whispered back. He glanced at the surrounding corpses, his face clouded with discomfort.

"Interesting." Lin Xin set down his cup. "Show it to me."

Zhao Ke quickly handed over the secret treasure, holding the thread while the other end was still connected to his belly. Fortunately, it was long enough that he didn’t have to stand up.

Lin Xin took the purple egg and clearly felt something like a heartbeat inside, as if something was being nurtured within.

"This secret treasure might be related to the energy of the Ghostly Mansion. Think about it, have you encountered anything similar?"

"The energy of the Ghostly Mansion..." Zhao Ke said with a distressed look on his face.

"Big brother, I was just caught up in the Divine Palace unintentionally, and afterwards, I knew nothing. How could I have come into contact with anything related to the energy of the Ghostly Mansion?"

"Lin big brother, what about you?" Ye Qingchang leaned in. "Ever since we heard you were captured by True Monarch Huang Yuan, we were very worried about you."

Although there was some fear in Ye Qingchang’s eyes, her sincerity was undeniable.

Seeing this, Lin Xin’s gaze softened slightly.

"I’m fine, it’s just that there were some changes along the way."

He was about to continue examining the secret treasure, but suddenly he let out a soft exclamation and carefully looked at Ye Qingchang.

"What’s the matter, Lin big brother?" Ye Qingchang blinked, unsure why he suddenly changed.

"You are pregnant." Lin Xin suddenly smiled.

"I...??" Ye Qingchang’s eyes widened in surprise, obviously not having anticipated this at all.

Zhao Ke also widened his eyes, mouth agape.

"Give me your hand."

Lin Xin spoke indifferently.

Ye Qingchang hurriedly complied.

After briefly taking her pulse, Lin Xin withdrew his hand.

"It’s a girl. You need to take good care of your health now. Your emotions have been fluctuating too much lately, which isn’t good for the child’s development."

As he said this, the intense killing intent emanating from him also seemed to lessen slightly, and for a moment, he was reminded of the children back at his manor.

With his current strength, not quite at the Yuan Jing level but not far off, it might be time for a return visit.

"How much longer until the Seven Section Bamboo?"

He suddenly turned away from the shockingly delighted Zhao Ke and his wife and looked at Lin Xiaoyu, a disciple of the Tianyun Way.

Lin Xiaoyu shuddered in fright and stammered a soft reply after a moment’s hesitation.

"Just over six months... The twelfth of December is the standard time for holding the Seven Section Bamboo every time."

"Six months..."

Lin Xin also calculated the time. It might be a bit tight, but it was still manageable. Now, he wasn’t like before; he could travel directly by airship, much faster than the previous journey to the Central Prefecture.

After eating and resting a bit, the group continued onward, this time directly changing their destination. Lin Xin had originally planned to go to the Tianyun Way to find Hong Gui, but after interacting with Quan Sheying and Zhou Huaisha, he clearly felt that their strength wasn’t on the same level as his own. If they hadn’t been severely injured, they probably wouldn’t have been able to share the spoils this time.

This goes to show that even among the Yuan Jing Layer, there are differences in strength.

From the tone of voice, it seemed that Quan Sheying was far inferior to Zhou Huaisha. As the Vice Sect Leader of the Red Spine Sect, ranked sixth on the Heavenly List, Zhou Huaisha was a notch below the top five, but not someone any ordinary Yuan Jing could compare to.

It seems he still had a long way to go.

Now, going to the Tianyun Way might not bring any benefits; it would be better to return to the South Prefecture first and assess the situation.

The Red Leaf Sword Master wanted to ensure Zhao Ke’s safety, which must be for some special reason. It would be a good opportunity to take him and leave the Central Prefecture, thus avoiding some trouble and lying low for a while.

Upon leaving the small town, the four of them were led directly by Lin Xin, who mounted the cloud of demons and headed towards the small border town he had initially flown to – Hua Drum Town.

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

A week later...

Outside the gates of Hua Drum Town, a long line of people still queued.

"Ten people for one Jade Money, the few of you, give one Jade Money."

The city guard lazily glanced over Lin Xin’s group of four and casually said.

Zhao Ke casually tossed him a Jade Money and walked ahead into the city first.

Lin Xin walked a bit behind with Ye Qingchang and Lin Xiaoyu, taking in the sights of this Central Prefecture border stronghold.

It was no different from when he had left, the streets still lined with shops making drumheads, and stalls selling Blood Beast and devouring spirit monster materials.

On the road crossing the South Prefecture, there were quite a few devouring spirit monsters. They couldn’t use Spiritual Energy or Demonic Qi to act, but many people figured out ways to deal with a small number, albeit at a high price.

Lin Xin’s party found an inn to stay in, and then Zhao Ke went out to find a fleet heading to the South Prefecture.

Left at the inn, Lin Xin recalled the people from the Kunlin Sword Sect and others encountered here and the eldest young lady from the Ma Family he first contacted when coming to the Central Prefecture.

Back then, because of leading the way, he had protected a young Ma family member for a while.

With nothing particular to do, he took Lin Xiaoyu out for a casual stroll.

Hua Drum Town hadn’t changed much since he left it, with little to no alteration, only the variety of differently dressed people seemed to have increased.

The place used to be a lawless border area, but now there were some Kunlin Sword Sect disciples maintaining order, clearly a change from before.

Walking around with a terrified Lin Xiaoyu who feared he might die, they enjoyed some freshly made tofu at a bean curd shop. After listening to a few tunes at a nearby music hall, the day slowly turned to evening.

As they were returning to the inn along the original route, Lin Xin unexpectedly heard someone calling him halfway there.

"Red Flower Teacher!!"

The voice was female and sounded somewhat familiar.