Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 46 Dongyue

Chapter 46: Chapter 46 Dongyue

"We were talking about the servant market," Lin Xin reminded him.

"Oh, right, the servant market is where captured disciples from other sects during missions, or various war slaves contributed by the Mortal Realm, are treated as commodities for trade. These servant slaves can be bought to serve as Cauldrons, or as toys, but most people buy them to serve as their personal servants. However, only the wealthy among those in the Qi Refinement Realm or the Innate stage frequent the place."

"That’s somewhat interesting," Lin Xin raised an eyebrow.

The two of them chatted casually while waiting for the person they had called to finish moving things and cleaning up.

"Care for another game?" Dongyue had pulled out two sets of black and white Go stones at some point and grinned at Lin Xin.

Lin Xin didn’t speak, simply sat down with him at the stone table and benches in the courtyard, and they began to play chess.

The rules of black and white here were a bit different, and since he was already a lousy player, he lost badly in the first game.

Seeing that the cleaning was still not finished, they started a second game.

By the time everything was completely cleaned up, it was already late afternoon, and the sun was about to set.

Dongyue packed up and stood up to leave, leaving behind a comment that left Lin Xin somewhat perplexed.

"Big brother, do you really not know who I am?"

Lin Xin had already guessed from Master Ji Lu’s reaction that this Dongyue might be somewhat famous within the sect, but he hadn’t delved deeper into it. The mortality rate among sect disciples was too high; life was uncertain, and many either devoted themselves to cultivation practice or indulged in fleeting pleasures or had twisted personalities.

That was the state even in the major sects of the Righteous Path, not to mention those heterodox sects.

Having made an enemy of Kun Si Lang, his reputation had spread, at least among the external disciples, making him quite well-known.

Dongyue, well-informed, would come to play chess with Lin Xin every few days. He would also bring many updates from outside.

Lin Xin was happy to have such a well-connected source of information.

Half a month passed, and he could see that Dongyue was just a person who enjoyed bustling scenes. Whenever there was something fun and interesting going on, he would surely go to see and stroll around, and he was good at making connections, so his information was exceptionally well-informed.

It just seemed that he had too much free time; Lin Xin hardly ever saw him practicing cultivation.

Lin Xin himself felt the benefits of the high-level stone house; this new stone house had the effect of easing meridian pain and speeding up recovery, much better than his previous one.

Now he could perform Inner Qi refinement twice a day, which was twice as fast compared to the low-level stone house and the external practice.

It was almost time for their next mission.

Lin Xin also got in touch with Kong Yuhui, planning to accept a mission in his area to familiarize himself with the nearby environments and towns of the sect.

Dongyue suggested he could accept several missions at once if the locations were nearby, complete them all at once, and then come back to rest and practice more, just as the high-level Innate experts did.

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

Task Wall

Lin Xin, carrying four swords on his back, attracted many glances from people around him.

Dongyue walked behind him with his hands behind his back, behaving like he was borrowing Lin Xin’s authority.

Early in the morning, before the sky was fully light, the two had come straight to the Task Wall and secured a front position to wait for the new tasks to be displayed.

"Big brother, isn’t it tiring to carry four swords?" Dongyue whispered to Lin Xin from behind. "Although it looks cool, isn’t it a bit too showy and space-consuming..."

After he finished speaking, he looked around. The four swords spread out on Lin Xin’s back squeezed out spots on either side, and the two occupied space for about four people in the somewhat crowded crowd.

Lin Xin simply ignored him, leaning against the mountain wall to rest.

"Scram!"

Suddenly, a rough shout came from outside the crowd.

A giant man, over two meters tall, clad in brown-black leather armor, his head full of black braids, rudely pushed through the people in front of him. He carried a giant sword, thick as a man’s leg, on his back, and his eyes swept around fiercely.

A few disciples who had not managed to get out of the way were casually thrown out of the crowd by him.

"One of the five great experts of Tingjian Valley, the Savage Sword Keke Ha’er," Dongyue whispered to Lin Xin. "Ninth Layer of the ’Return to Origin’ at the Innate level..."

This was Lin Xin’s first time seeing a heavyweight figure from Tingjian Valley. Just by looking, he could tell that this Savage Sword Keke Ha’er exuded a domineering air. His walk was powerful, and his body seemed extremely heavy, with thighs as thick as an average man’s waist. His arms resembled two stone pillars.

The Savage Sword found a spot and casually pushed aside surrounding disciples to sit cross-legged on the ground, undisturbed by the dirt.

The mission-accepting disciples affected were too angry to speak out.

As time slowly passed, the person responsible for updating the Task Wall arrived and began to rapidly change the content on the wall.

Lin Xin squeezed through the people in front to closely examine the updated tasks.

He quickly snatched up two tasks involving delivering messages and finding people, both near the sect, and the rest were immediately taken by others.

Pushing through the crowd, Lin Xin led Dongyue back the way they had come. On Lin Avenue, they encountered many anonymous disciples who were checking out tasks.

Among them were several practitioners whose aura was no weaker than Lin Xin’s at the Third Layer; he counted briefly, and just in that little while, he had seen more than ten Third Layer practitioners. Among these, two were particularly conspicuous; one had his face maimed, with freshly bandaged wounds still bleeding, and the other was missing an arm, his complexion pale.

This sent a chill through his heart, and the slight sense of relief he had just started to feel was quickly suppressed.

"Lin Xin?" As they were about to leave Lin Avenue and head back to Stone House Town, a group of people suddenly approached them.

A somewhat familiar voice came from the group.

Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw it was Wang Chong and Xiao Lingling, both of whom were following behind two men wearing black Heart Protecting Mirrors, appearing to be their subordinates.

"Wang Chong? Xiao Lingling?" Lin Xin’s expression eased as he nodded to them both.

However, his current appearance was somewhat brash, with four swords behind his back wrapped strangely in layers of black cloth, looking quite eye-catching like outlandish fans.

Not just the ordinary disciples in the opposite group, but even the two leading men with Heart Protecting Mirrors couldn’t help but take a second look at him.

"Is he your friend? Remember to follow later," one of the men with a Heart Protecting Mirror said softly. He didn’t greet Lin Xin but directly led the others toward the task wall.

Wang Chong and Xiao Lingling stayed behind.

"I haven’t seen you for several months, where have you been?" Xiao Lingling asked quietly as she approached. "I even had our brothers and sisters in the gang help look for you, but no results."

"Lin Xin, how have you not returned to Stone House? We were planning to pull you into our gang for mutual support, but you disappeared without a word and went straight to take on tasks, only to return now," Wang Chong complained somewhat. "By the way, Brother Lin, you... haven’t joined any gang, have you?"

The three had been merely acquainted, and Lin Xin found it strange how suddenly cordial they were becoming, but he understood when he heard Wang Chong’s last remark.

So they were trying to recruit him to join their gang.

He saw Wang Chong glancing at Xiao Lingling with a bit of caution.

"I can introduce Brother Lin into our Spirit Beads Gang..."

"Come, let me treat you to a drink. We can eat and chat together." Xiao Lingling took the initiative to grab Lin Xin’s hand, her appearance having changed significantly after several months; she had started to wear makeup and dress up. She wore a set of black, short clothes and a skirt, with just a strip of black leather across her chest, intentionally highlighting her ample bosom, leaving her waist exposed, and the skirt short enough to barely cover her hips.

She looked completely different from when she had just arrived.

Snap.

At that moment, Wang Chong abruptly knocked Xiao Lingling’s hand away.

"I spoke first, didn’t I? What do you mean by this Xiao Lingling?" Wang Chong, who was always straightforward and somewhat impulsive, immediately looked displeased.

Lin Xin was somewhat puzzled, but Dongyue quietly explained to him from behind.

"Recruiting a new member to the gang comes with benefits, and they are competing for the reward of bringing you in... it’s something that happens every month."

"By the way, which gang did you guys join?" Seeing that the two were about to argue, Lin Xin quickly intervened to change the topic.

"Spirit Beads Gang." Xiao Lingling smiled lightly, her naturally seductive eyes becoming even more enticing. Her Inner Qi was suited for reconnaissance; when performing missions for the gang, she always needed protection due to her insufficient combat strength and, after nearly dying on several missions, she had begun to exploit her natural assets for greater protection from others.

The moment she saw Lin Xin, some thoughts began to form in her mind. Thanks to her keen senses, she had already noticed that the Inner Qi within Lin Xin had increased to a higher level. Although she was shocked in her heart, she remained composed and silent; after all, recruiting an ordinary new member who had just reached the First Layer was not as beneficial as bringing in a promising talent who had already ascended to the Second Layer so quickly.

She certainly did not want Wang Chong to know this and compete even more fervently with her.

"Hang on a second." She glanced sidelong at Wang Chong and pulled him aside to whisper a few words.

Wang Chong’s expression soon softened, but he still looked somewhat reluctant.

When the two came back, Wang Chong bowed to Lin Xin to take his leave, not lingering to speak further and walking away on his own. Apparently, they had reached some agreement.

Xiao Lingling then moved closer to Lin Xin.

"And this is?"

"I’m Dongyue." Dongyue replied with a playful smile.

Xiao Lingling scanned his somewhat sloppy attire, carefully sensing and realizing that this guy was just a First Layer ordinary disciple, and paid him no further attention. Her focus was on cultivating a good relationship with Lin Xin.

"Have you joined the gang?"

"If I had joined, I would have done it long ago," Dongyue replied offhandedly, chuckling.

Hearing this, Xiao Lingling no longer paid him any attention.

As the trio walked toward the town, they chatted about recent events.

It turned out that after Xiao Lingling and the others organized a team of loners for a mission to pursue a criminal, they initially thought they were only dealing with two Second Layer criminals. With five of them together, including two from the Second Layer leading the team and three supporters, they believed it should have been manageable. However, the result was nearly a complete disaster for their group.

After lucky survival, both came to realize the cruelty of their missions, understanding that those who survive are not necessarily the strongest, but are definitely those who know best how to conceal themselves...

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