Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 64 Return to the Clan Part 2

Chapter 64: Chapter 64 Return to the Clan Part 2

Cough, cough...

Kong Ling reacted, hurriedly coughing several times.

The few servants around also began to swiftly clean up the scene, though there wasn’t much to clean up except for the broken wooden wall debris. Zhao Hongtian, as if just awakened from a dream, hastily ran out to check on Huang Songzi’s situation.

"No need to look, Huang Songzi ran away," Zhong Xuan snorted coldly.

"Congratulations, senior brother, good wishes, senior brother! You’ve finally reached the last step," said the junior sister who came with him, her face full of happiness by now.

"Who would have thought that second senior brother, without making a sound, had actually reached this final stage," another person said with joy on their face.

"Don’t spread the word, I’m also barely grasping it myself," Zhong Xuan said modestly, but the hint of pride in his eyes was still undeniable.

"Senior brother is too modest! Being able to injure Huang Songzi, who is in the Eighth Layer of Qi Refinement, with a single sword strike, your Four Spirits Chongyang Sword must have definitely reached the Third Spirit! Once you step into the Fourth Spirit, it will be the beginning of Foundation Establishment!"

Kong Ling also reacted by now, quickly congratulating him.

It was only at this moment that Lin Xin realized that Zhong Xuan had actually reached the Great Perfection of the Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation!

"Even across the entire range of the Four Sects, senior brother Zhong can be considered to have an astonishing talent," the junior sister said with a light laugh and compliment. "I presume even Su Wan, who is highly boasted about by the Wind-Riding Sect at this age, would be no better than this."

"Don’t speak recklessly," Zhong Xuan smiled, "Fairy Su has an extraordinary talent, she must not be inferior to me."

Lin Xin got up from the ground, having had to sit down to dodge the Sword Qi, and now hurriedly thanked Zhong Xuan for saving his life.

At the mention of Su Wan’s name, his heart stirred slightly. He wondered how the investigation into that white crying woman in Red Pine City had progressed.

It seemed that Su Wan was considered to be at the same level of competence as master Zhong Xuan.

He felt somewhat reassured about Su Wan’s and fairy Nuyue Zhao Si’er’s strengths and standings.

"Alright, Lin Xin, you go rest for now, but don’t stray too far from me in case Huang Songzi comes back to launch a sneak attack. You are a member of my Elixir Hall, and Ji Lu’s junior nephew; if you were to get injured under my watch, I’d lose face when I go back," Zhong Xuan said warmly with a smile to Lin Xin.

"Thank you, elder Zhong!" Lin Xin hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

The other party did not mention a single word about the thousand-strong human-faced fruit that Huang Songzi had referred to, obviously defaulting to using it for himself. Even if the thousand-strong human-faced fruit was useless to a high-level expert of Qi Refinement Great Perfection like him, he could use it to curry favor; now, by not mentioning it, it seemed like he had accepted this favor as settled.

Lin Xin mentally noted this favor, resolving to repay it whenever an opportunity arose.

After the matter concluded, he simply stayed and watched Zhong Xuan and the others fish.

However, he knew clearly that after being publicly humiliated, Huang Songzi would undoubtedly also bear a grudge against him as well, together with the Shu Family... Lin Xin felt a sense of urgency. If he were targeted collectively by these forces, his current level of cultivation was indeed too dangerous!

"I’ll devote myself to cultivation practice after I get back, and unless absolutely necessary, I won’t go out!" he firmly decided within his heart.

The case of the human-faced fruit was only just uncovered by him; there would surely be intense internal struggles between the two major powers. He was too insignificant to be involved in these matters. The accumulation of the human-faced fruits over many years was definitely not limited to just one thousand-strong fruit; there had to be more hidden away. Peacock City had many people dying from plague every year; there was much more to come.

"Let the experts within the Sect handle the upcoming matters; we should focus on cultivating our own strengths."

Lin Xin sighed and exchanged a glance with Kong Yuhui, who tossed him an apologetic look. Although Lin Xin could understand, he still felt somewhat uncomfortable. In the end, when he went up the mountain, those people Kong Yuhui had brought were sent back by him. Presumably, they had also informed Kong Yuhui about many things.

But he knew that was all the other side could do.

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

Time flashed by, and several days passed.

Huang Songzi and Zhao Hongtian completely vanished within the city. Only when Zhong Xuan received a message did he learn that Huang Songzi had gone to another key location, which was the real lair of the six-winged bees in Peacock City, also the core gathering area of the human-faced fruits. It was said that Huang Songzi had also looked for help. There would inevitably be a huge battle for the human-faced fruits.

Thus, Zhong Xuan, accompanied by his two junior fellow disciples, set off together.

While Lin Xin took the opportunity when everyone’s attention was focused on the battle at the lair, he went up the mountain to dig out the thousand-strong human-faced fruit, then purchased a fast horse at the station, planning to leave Peacock City directly.

Before leaving, he first removed the contingency plans he had set up, and then went to see the chubby child. The little guy was living carefree and well under Uncle Wang’s care, and had obtained an official name — "Thunder Tiger".

At hearing this name, Lin Xin couldn’t help but feel a mixture of laughter and tears.

The little fellow always boasted about his feat of knocking out a tiger with three punches; whether rolling in the mud or crawling in the water, he was mischievous and rowdy.

Lin Xin quietly watched the boy and then left quietly; after all, he was no longer an ordinary person, and letting the chubby child live a peaceful life was for the best.

Mounting the horse, with dry food packed, he continued his journey, pausing from time to time, constantly changing paths and avoiding retracing his steps. He decided to take detours rather than brave dark and eerie places.

As a result, apart from encountering some wild beasts, he arrived at the Sect without any issues, safely reaching his destination.

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

Tingjian Valley

One hundred and three stone houses

Lin Xin pushed open the stone door, and a layer of white ash covered the furniture surfaces; it had been a long time since anyone had used them.

He didn’t mind, closed the door, opened the wardrobe and picked out a pale yellow outfit and a white belt. He then grabbed a set of underwear and quickly stripped off his clothes.

"Big brother!!"

A voice suddenly rang out when he was stark naked.

"Big brother, I’m coming in!" It was Dongyue, this guy was incredibly fast and had reached the outside of the stone house in no time.

Lin Xin shivered and hurriedly grabbed his underwear to put on, but then a rustling noise came from the window next to the stone door, as if someone was trying to pry open a gap and peek through.

"Big brother! Open the door! I rushed over as soon as I heard you were back." Dongyue’s honest and sincere voice came through the window.

With a squeak, he pried the window open, and Dongyue peeked inside through the crack with a mischievous eye.

"Big brother! Oh, you’re changing clothes! Sorry, sorry, I really didn’t mean to!"

This guy was both shouting and laughing; nobody would believe he didn’t do it on purpose.

Fortunately, Lin Xin managed to pull on his pants in time to prevent him from succeeding. Hearing the laughter, he immediately gave him a cold glare.

"Wait outside." he said sternly.

"Yes, yes, yes...." Dongyue hastily replied.

After hurrying to change clothes, Lin Xin dampened a towel to wash his face, tidied up his clothes, and directly threw the dirty clothes into the trash can before going to open the door.

No sooner had he opened the door than he saw Dongyue grinning as he barged in.

"Bro~~ you are my real brother~~~ Can we talk about something?" he said coyly.

Lin Xin glanced at him expressionlessly and thumped him on the head.

"Ouch! It hurts!" Dongyue cowered, holding his head.

Lin Xin was speechless; he hadn’t even hit him that hard. But considering that this guy had dared to stand by his side during the fight with that lunatic Kun Si Lang, he considered him a sort of friend. If it was a small matter, helping out was no big deal, so he said,

"What is it, speak."

Dongyue was wearing a filthy, washed-out Taoist robe that had lost its original color. His face lit up at Lin Xin’s words.

"Could I borrow some jade money..."

"How much do you need?" Lin Xin was now quite wealthy, and a few hundred jade money was nothing for him. After all, he still had tens of thousands of jade money in his account.

"This much." Dongyue stretched out one index finger.

"Ten jade money? Take it and get out, I have some cultivation practice to do." Lin Xin casually took out ten jade money and tossed it to him.

"Not... not that." Dongyue stubbornly refused to leave.

"A hundred? Can you even afford to pay it back?" Lin Xin eyed him skeptically.

"Hehehe...." Dongyue’s face broke into a grin. "I can pay it back, definitely can!"

"Alright, alright, here’s a hundred." Lin Xin casually took out a jade token worth a hundred and tossed it to him. This amount of money was not a big deal for him and he didn’t care much about it.

Dongyue grabbed the jade token and ran off swiftly, who knows what he was up to.

After closing the door, Lin Xin felt more than ever that he needed to set up an alarm formation; he barely had time to react when someone came up to his door. Especially Dongyue, who had gotten too comfortable around him due to their frequent chess sessions, it would be trouble if he discovered anything.

Glancing outside, it was still early. He locked the doors and windows and took out the items he had acquired this time, placing them one by one on the table.

All the other items were insignificant, and he threw them into a side drawer. His desk, made in a style he was used to, had many lockable drawers.

The remaining items on the desktop were three things.

A Thousand-Man Level Human Face Fruit, five black metallic blocks, and a Sword Qi Talisman from Shu Luoyi.

"To consume the Human Face Fruit, it needs a specially made Corrosion Liquid to remove the hard outer shell, then you dip it in vinegar and eat it raw..." Lin Xin recalled the consumption details and found it a bit strange.

"No rush, let’s try to break through to the Fourth Layer of Innate first. If I can break through on my own, then I can save this for when I attempt the Qi Refinement Realm." Lin Xin felt it was a bit of a waste to use such a valuable item for Innate, as it was effective up to the Fifth Layer of Qi Refinement.

After storing the Human Face Fruit, he looked at the five metallic blocks. They were densely engraved with many strange symbols and textures, and he had no information on what they were for. He stored them as well, planning to look them up in the data room.

Lastly, the Sword Qi Talisman, a powerful item that could serve as a trump card.

"I need to research the usage methods for these items. Looks like while stabilizing my cultivation level, I will need to make a thorough search in the data room."