Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 638 - 633 Big Attack Part 1

Chapter 638: Chapter 633 Big Attack Part 1

White Jade City

Feng Huai strolled leisurely through the Taoist Soldier Market inside the Heavenly Evolution Tower.

The space inside the tower was enlarged, as big as a small town. There was a long street dedicated exclusively to selling all kinds of Taoist Soldier Seeds.

On the market, both sides were densely packed with stalls set up by institute students. These cultivators were selling the Taoist Soldier Seeds they had created—some were failed products, barely scrapped together to recover some costs.

Some were supplied in bulk over long periods, and their prices were cheaper than the official prices of the Heavenly Evolution Tower.

This was also a rule set by Green Lake Mountain, encouraging cultivators to make more and better Taoist Soldier Seeds. The aim was to foster a trading environment with a good atmosphere for the Taoist Soldier Market.

Arranged in two rows like street vendors, some of the student cultivators were resting with their eyes closed, some were meditating cross-legged, and others were carefully studying their jade slip, seemingly unconcerned whether they sold anything or not.

"This market is quite peaceful," Feng Huai said with a smile to the female guard cultivator behind him.

This female guard was actually his friend, a high-level expert he met during an outing. Later on, she was directly hired by his family to be his personal bodyguard. She was sent on a makeshift errand on his behalf, which was why she hadn’t been with him in Snowman City. He had thought the task would be foolproof, yet he hadn’t expected such chaos to ensue.

"If Feng brother likes it so much, why not mimic it and build one in your family domain? Wouldn’t that be good?"

The female guard said with a smile.

"That won’t do, other markets are easy to set up, but this one is difficult..." Feng Huai shook his head, then suddenly stopped in front of a round stall by the roadside.

He walked over, crouched down.

"How do you sell this Taoist Soldier?"

He picked up a yellow, egg-shaped oval and asked.

The stall owner was an old man with one blind eye, holding a smoking pipe, puffing lazily.

"Eight hundred."

He was referring to Contribution Points. His accent didn’t sound like it was from the Qing Shan region.

He was probably a passing cultivator selling his wares.

Feng Huai had an idea.

He picked it up and identified it closely.

"Eight hundred Contribution Points for this is a bit expensive."

"Not expensive, my Heartfelt Bird evolves under fewer conditions than others. It doesn’t need to interact and develop a bond with its owner," the old man said, squinting his eyes.

"Oh?"

Feng Huai’s interest was piqued.

The evolution of Taoist Soldiers is not simply a matter of slaying Demon Spirits.

Especially for some non-combat Taoist Soldiers with higher rating, the required conditions are extremely stringent, such as needing various special environmental conditions, various special energies, specific timing, compatibility requirements with the owner, and also requiring designated treasures for consumption, and so forth.

The Heartfelt Bird is valued for its speed and is convenient for sending messages or small items with a certain ability to communicate, much cheaper than the cost of using a Teleportation Formation.

Moreover, its speed is only slightly slower than a Fifth Rank Human Immortal’s Polar Region. It also has a strong invisibility ability, which can be used for scouting enemy situations.

"You want it or not?" the old man asked casually.

"How long does evolution take?"

Another person from the side leaned in to ask.

"The shortest category among the Third Rank, three years," the old man said indifferently.

"Only three years!" The person’s interest was immediately piqued.

"I’ll take it!"

Feng Huai quickly transferred eight hundred Contribution Points to the old man.

With a ’ding’ sound, a noise came from the old man’s Jade Talisman.

The transaction was completed.

Feng Huai picked up the Heartfelt Bird and turned to leave, ignoring the shouts from behind.

It’s not that he didn’t want to look further, but generally, the evolution time for Third Rank Taoist Soldiers is based on five to ten years, and now there was one available that only took three years—he had to act quickly.

Moreover, he didn’t need to worry about quality issues. This place was supervised by the institute, and defective frauds were not allowed to leave White Jade City.

"Oh, right, I still need to get a Burning Furnace for Lin Xin," he thought while walking and recalling the situation at Lin Xin’s battle city.

"It’s strange, I don’t know where that guy got a Second Rank Steel Men or Inscription Dwarves. Did he buy them as complete Taoist Soldiers? Wouldn’t that be a huge loss?"

Steel Men are the most cost-effective meat shields, and Inscription Dwarves are the best Blacksmiths and maintenance workers for forging Magic Artifacts.

Both types of Taoist Soldiers are difficult to evolve, belonging to the final form, requiring strict conditions. Lin Xin unexpectedly managed to acquire them from somewhere.

"I heard that the City Lord Lin has a good relationship with Yuan Xi, who has many connections. Maybe he got them through a black market introduction by Yuan Xi,"

the female guard chimed in.

"Maybe," Feng Huai couldn’t care less to delve further. In these times, anyone who could reach Fifth Rank had their secrets, and prying too much might not even leave room for friendship. It was better not to think too much about it.

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

Soon, Lin Xin realized what it meant to disregard rank position.

The seed that the Flower Demon King put into the ground burgeoned suddenly, not so much sprouting as it seemed a colossal being was desperately pushing up from under the frozen soil.

He quickly tapped his toes and retreated over a hundred meters.

Hum...

The ground trembled, and the white snow and frozen earth were uplifted.

With crackling sounds, the ice layer fractured, and a purple dome rose out from beneath, only revealing half of itself above the ground. Within its translucent exterior, numerous thick liquids writhed, appearing to be teeming with clusters of wriggling eggs.

The Flower Demon King remained stationary, standing just one step in front of the hemisphere.

When the hemisphere fully matured, she suddenly vibrated her wings and plunged forward into the sphere. Her originally semi-transparent figure became almost entirely incorporeal and disappeared into the sphere in an instant.

Whoosh!

A white light flashed, and the hemisphere shook silently before becoming completely still.

"Master, the Void Eggs are ready to stand by at any time."

A crisp voice from the Flower Demon King came from within the hemisphere.

Lin Xin narrowed his eyes and stepped forward to take a closer look.

The surface of the hemisphere was entirely light purple, allowing only a faint view inside with layers upon layers of nail-sized eggs.

"What is the function of this plant?"

He asked curiously.

The Flower Demon King answered from inside.

"It can launch Void Eggs which cause living beings to become mentally confused. Once slain, it produces a movable Second Rank Floating Scavenger Demon."

"What about its rank position?"

Lin Xin asked about the most crucial point.

"Unclear, master. The information you provided during the ritual did not include a specific evaluation standard. It needs to be judged after direct confrontation," replied the Void Eggs.

"Void Egg seeds generally germinate in three hundred years, mature in three hundred years, and form a true battle force after a millennium. However, I used plant control to forcibly mature it using its own reserve power. This state can last for one year, after which it will completely collapse."

"One year... That’s enough!"

Lin Xin’s heart swelled with joy; the previous cloud that weighed on his heart seemed to have eased a great deal.

Just seeing the fluctuations of power, he estimated it to be at least of the Second Rank or more. Lin Xin judged that even if it was not Second Rank, it would not be far off.

Recalling the bad premonition he had earlier, Lin Xin quickly inquired with the other Flower Demon Kings to see if it was possible to capture seeds of the Void Eggs.

Instantly, the Flower Demon Kings swiftly captured seeds of the Void Eggs and held them in their hands for Lin Xin to inspect.

After verifying them one by one, he immediately dispatched all the Flower Demon Kings to plant the Void Eggs on the inside of the city walls within the battle city.

Soon, after just ten minutes, purple hemispheres each about ten meters in diameter began to bulge up from the ground.

The battle city’s strength received an unprecedented enhancement.

Lin Xin also tried to have the Flower Demon Kings capture other kinds of seeds. But it seemed like all available seeds nearby were solely that of the Void Eggs, and he could not find any other variety, so he gave up.

He even attempted to refine the seeds of the Void Eggs and infuse attributes into them, but unfortunately, the shells of the Void Eggs were completely impenetrable to any force, making it impossible even to refine them, let alone transfer attributes.

In the following days, he began to inspect the strategic layout around the entire battle city. Thirty Flower Demons spread out separately, encircling the inside of the city walls. For the newly produced small Flower Demons, he ordered them to continuously capture seeds in the Void.

It was best to capture seeds of the Void Eggs and also some of other varieties. He wanted to attempt breaking through the shell isolation of the Void Eggs.

During this period, the Spirit Jade in the space equipment was almost depleted. The emergence of the Void Eggs was just in time. If it had been even slightly later, he feared that even the defensive Formation would not hold.

Steel Men were evenly distributed around each of the Void Eggs for defense and guarding.

Everything was prepared. If a problem still arose under such conditions, then there was nothing more he could do.

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

Several days later.

Lin Xin sat in the central fortress, slowly sipping tea from a cup in his hand, while a Void Egg floated and rotated slowly in front of him, probed and tested by threads of spiritual power.

Boom!

Suddenly, the whole ground shook.

The tea in his hand spilled fiercely, scattering all over the floor.

"What’s going on!"

Lin Xin stood up, grabbed the Void Egg, and walked outside.

In one stride, he reached the gate.

As he stood at the doorway and looked up.

The sky darkened again.

Countless dense Void Demons, like a swarm of locusts, pounced towards the battle city, howling and swinging their sharp claws, their bodies cloaked in a faint layer of black mist.

"They’ve indeed come!" exclaimed Lin Xin, his heart sinking.

He stepped back, and two Steel Men blocked his sides as the fortress gate sank down steadily.

This stronghold enveloped the central battle city’s flag within it, its subterranean layer housed the Burning Furnace, and it was surrounded by a hexagonal defense bunker. The top was shielded by stone walls covered with Formations, impervious to demolition.

The only access for the Void Demons was from above ground.

Through the mental link, Lin Xin already sensed that the outer Void Eggs were engaging with the invading Void Demons.

He narrowed his eyes, retreated to the throne inside the fortress, and waved his hand.

Suddenly, an ice mirror appeared in front of him, showing the scenes of the outside battle.

Inside the Void Eggs, a sudden surge expanded like an inflating balloon and exploded.

A large number of plant parasitic eggs shot out like bullets, piercing into the bodies of the Void Demons with a whizzing sound.

Those Void Demons that were hit stiffened in midair and then abruptly turned on their companions, beginning to frenziedly attack and intercept them.

Every moment, dozens of Void Demons were converted to fight for the cause around the Void Eggs.

The Steel Men fought desperately to guard, smashing any that slipped through the net to death.

For the moment, the two sides were in a stalemate.