Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 653 - 648 Task Two

Chapter 653: Chapter 648 Task Two

Several people quietly waited without urgency or haste.

As days passed, the snow piled higher and higher, yet every few days it was swept away by an invisible force.

Finally, after fifteen days, a blue light flew through the snowstorm from afar.

The blue light traced a curve through the air and softly landed behind the group, revealing a person.

"Fellow seniors, I am the one here to accept the mission to descend to the Lower Realm."

The person said in a deep voice, greeting with cupped hands.

The group lifted their gaze to look at the newcomer.

With a wooden expression, a robust physique and average features, a red scar, resembling a centipede, rested on his right face. His long black hair draped over his shoulders, giving off a wild and unrestrained aura.

This man appeared to be around thirty years old, likely a late bloomer.

"Let’s begin the descent ceremony then," one of the figures in pointed hats muttered softly.

"Alright."

The man nodded.

"Please stand on the altar," the figure in the pointed hat said solemnly.

The man did as instructed and stood firm on the altar.

Swish!

Several of the figures in pointed hats made hand seals simultaneously.

In an instant, over a dozen hand seals were stamped out, suspended mid-air by True Force, and solidified into various silver light spheres.

When about a hundred hand seals were made, they suddenly all shot towards the man on the altar.

Boom!!!

All he felt was a blinding white light exploding before his eyes, accompanied by a rumbling in his ears.

His entire being seemed to be thrown into a rolling drum, violently spinning around.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the white light before the man’s eyes started to dim.

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

At the heart of Ping Mountain Realm.

"Disciple Qing Qiu Zhengran, on behalf of the entire sect, earnestly beseeches a celestial presence from the Upper Realm to manifest!!!"

In a grand and opulent Taoist Temple, dozens of people knelt, led by a silver-haired old man covered in silver runes, paying their respects to an altar.

The morning sun spread across the courtyard of the Taoist Temple, bisecting it into a dark side and a golden side.

The cultivation practices of dozens of people turned into streams of green lines, continuously merging into the white jade altar, transmitted to an unknown, unnamed place.

"The ancestral master of Floral Shadow Sect has emerged, overpowering Qing Yuan Sect, causing widespread suffering by the rise of a demon. Out of necessity, we connect to the Upper Realm, investing the strength of the entire sect to beseech the Immortal Sect’s presence from the Upper Realm to quell the evil and support the Righteous Path," the old man solemnly said with reverence, then knelt down.

Qing Yuan Sect of Ping Mountain Realm, which originally stood as the foremost Mystery Sect of the Taoist Way, had ruled the Taoist Sects for thousands of years, an unshakeable overlord.

However, just a few years ago, within an independent kingdom, the Third Prince chanced upon a relic and unintentionally released a great demon sealed by Qing Yuan Sect a thousand years prior.

Qing Yuan Sect issued a capture order but didn’t expect that, despite the mobilization of many powerful experts, they would be defeated and scattered. That Third Prince, under the tutelage of the demon, grew rapidly, and has since risen in power.

The once unshakable status of the Qing Yuan Sect as a Sanctuary of the Mystery Sect began to falter. Emperors of various nations gradually harbored ambitions of resistance and began their subtle maneuvers.

"The Sect’s dignity cannot be challenged. The glory of Green Lake constitutes the cornerstone of the world."

"All demons and heretics shall be shown no mercy and eradicated!"

A deep, ethereal voice echoed down from the sky.

Old man Qing Qiu Zhengran rose to his feet, his expression stern, and took a dark-gold knife that someone else passed to him. He made a small cut on his wrist.

Streams of blood swiftly flew out, channeling into the altar.

Boom!!!

In an instant, thunder roared out of the blue sky.

A pillar of pure white light descended straight from the heavens, landing precisely in the center of the altar, which was around ten meters wide.

In the light column, a man in a green robe slowly materialized, with the space around him pulsating and distorting.

It was a sign that the space could barely contain his presence.

"We welcome the Immortal General’s descent!"

The old man Qing Qiu Zhengran, once again, led all the members of the sect in kowtowing.

His granddaughter Qing Qiu Yuan, while bowing, sneaked glances with her tilted head, curious about the appearance of the Immortal General descending from the Upper Realm.

Through the distortion in space and the immense dignity, she could barely make out his appearance.

Long black hair over his shoulders, a striking scar across his face, an indifferent expression, his entire being exuded an intangible force that made him hard to look at directly.

But as she continued to steal glances, Qing Qiu Yuan felt a stinging pain in her eyes, as though they were hurt by the strong light emanating from the altar.

"We welcome the Immortal General!"

Qing Qiu Zhengran quickly pressed his granddaughter’s head down.

"Please rest first, Immortal General. I will report the details to you shortly."

Lin Xin surveyed his surroundings; he could distinctly feel that the space here was much less stable than in the Mortal Realm.

Even the Underworld fared better; the space felt like shackles, the kind that weren’t very firm, seemingly ready to break free with the slightest effort.

It even made him feel uncomfortable.

Even the Heaven and Earth’s Elemental Energy he breathed was pitifully scarce.

"Truly barren..."

He frowned slightly; staying in such an environment for too long might cause his cultivation to decline gradually.

"Fine, first arrange a place for me to rest," he said.

He glanced at the crowd of monks kneeling all around, who could tentatively be called monks.

Because on the old man before him, he detected the aura of a Core Formation cultivator, while the rest were either at the Foundation Establishment or the Qi Cultivation level—astonishingly, the entire Mountain Gate had only one Core Formation Daoist Master.

Moreover, upon careful sensing, the aura of this Core Formation Daoist Master was very impure, seemingly mixed with a lot of medicinal energy. It was clear that he was trying to forcibly advance by consuming medicinal pills.

As for the little girl beside him, around fifteen or sixteen years old, she was the only person present who had barely entered the door of Qi Cultivation—a super rookie.

When the space was distorting and vibrating, she even dared to look directly at the Formation’s light without fearing it would blind her.

In an instant, Lin Xin roughly understood the kind of world he had come to.

A low-level small world with scarce and weak Elemental Energy.

After descending from the altar, he tried his best to contain the Protective Aura around him, transforming it to suppress the fluctuations emanating from his body.

In doing so, the Protective Aura just barely managed to contain his overly powerful physical body, preventing the spatial tremors it caused.

"Immortal General, please!"

The elder, Qiu Qiuren, said respectfully.

Lin Xin’s body gradually twisted and disappeared, no longer emitting a terrifying spatial distortion.

He nodded and followed Qiu Qiuren, flanked by a large group of cultivators, out from the central courtyard of the Taoist Temple and into the lavish tower chambers behind it.

Upon entering the tower, there were already arranged rows of beautiful maids standing in two lines, kneeling and bowing in deep reverence.

"Welcome Immortal General’s arrival."

Their crisp and uniform voices echoed.

"This way, please." The elder led Lin Xin quickly to a spacious courtyard at the back of the Taoist Temple.

In the courtyard stood a five-layered White Spire, guarded by soldiers wearing Rune Armor.

Beside the tower, there were little bridges over flowing water and rock gardens where girls of premier appearance and figure, clothed in light gauze, were gently plucking petals with their mouths in the garden.

"This is where the Immortal General will be staying temporarily. The Lower Realm is filthy and muddled; we can only try to make up for it in other ways and ask the Immortal General to condescend to stay for a while," said the elder respectfully.

"Not bad," Lin Xin nodded in satisfaction.

Walking in, he immediately felt a surge in Elemental Energy, evidently due to Spirit Stones buried around to form a formation. Although it still couldn’t compare with the Mortal Realm, it was at least about half as rich as the Elemental Energy in the Underworld.

The elder took his leave temporarily, leaving a young and beautiful female cultivator waiting for instructions, ready to serve Lin Xin at any time.

Lin Xin entered the tower and, with the guidance of the female cultivator, familiarized himself with the surroundings before directly entering his room to rest.

After a short while.

Thud, thud, thud.

The door was knocked.

"Who is it?"

Lin Xin casually asked.

"Immortal General, it is me, Du Ning."

Du Ning was the beautiful female cultivator who had led Lin Xin into the tower.

"Enter."

With a thought from Lin Xin, Elemental Energy automatically unlatched the door.

Du Ning changed into a pure white one-piece short dress, exposing her ivory-smooth long legs, with her bosom nearly bursting through the fabric.

Her long pinkish-red hair cascaded down to her waist, and her face was clearly made up, cheeks blushingly tender, eyes shimmering with an allure that seemed to say more in their silence.

"The Sect Leader’s materials have arrived. Please review them, Immortal General."

She carefully and slowly placed the Jade Slip on the table in the room, subtly sticking out her behind in a seemingly inadvertent manner, giving Lin Xin a glimpse of the scenery beneath her skirt.

"That will be all; you may leave now."

An impatient voice interrupted her movement.

Du Ning’s face stiffened, but she quickly resumed her smile.

"Yes."

She walked out gracefully, gently closing the door behind her.

"If the Immortal General has any needs, he may directly command the lower-ranking disciples. There is a fine thread on the wall that directly connects to thirty-six different rooms in the tower; each room has a designed passageway that directly connects to the Immortal General’s room," she said softly as she left.

If it were anywhere else, Lin Xin might not mind such diversions and relaxation.

But the women here were too calculating and purposeful, and he had absolutely no interest in leaving any offspring or such in this place.

Simple venting of frustrations, considering his status and position, when could he not find an opportunity?

He sat cross-legged on the wooden bed and beckoned with his hand, immediately causing the Jade Slip to fly into his grasp.

Upon closing his eyes and sensing, the contents of the Jade Slip immediately flooded his mind.

The task this time was to support the Lower Realm, which must be the pressing issue currently faced by the Qing Yuan Sect, eradication of that Third Prince and the unleashed giant demon, while also subduing the Floral Shadow Sect’s ancestor.

Being his first task, Lin Xin was extremely careful. It was also his first time physically crossing between worlds.

Having read through the materials, he generally understood what the task was.

The materials also detailed the strengths and characteristics of the giant demon, the Third Prince, and the Floral Shadow Sect’s ancestor.

"According to the information, the Floral Shadow Sect can be disregarded. This so-called Third Prince seems to be in the mid to late stages of the Foundation Establishment. The giant demon is also at the Nascent Core Layer. Just unsure which layer."

He stroked his chin, finding the task appeared simple and not difficult to solve. No wonder the Contribution Points were so few.

"However... in just a few years’ time, to go from an ordinary mortal to the mid to late stages of Foundation Establishment... even in Green Lake Mountain, that’s considered fast..." he mused, feeling slightly puzzled.

"No matter. There’s no need to think too much about it. Two ants, no matter how they leap about, the gap is too vast. Just crush over them, and that’s enough."

He stopped pondering over it, and slowly entered a state of meditative cultivation. Since the Qing Yuan Decision was lacking Elemental Energy and thus unpracticable, he could cultivate the Fire Cloud Technique.

This Cultivation Technique didn’t rely on the quality of Elemental Energy but on comprehension, understanding, layers, and realms.