Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 659 - 654: Stability II

Chapter 659: Chapter 654: Stability II

After dealing with everything, Lin Xin returned to the Dragon Serpent Realm to continue his seclusion and cultivation.

The Green Yuan Decision’s advancement was slow; it required constant consolidation of nine Elemental Energies, and then the Green Yuan Cauldron would condense the origin of the Taiqing Elemental Energy, step by step increasing the overall quantity of his cultivation.

Although entering the Fourth Level Spiritual Realm still appeared to be far off, Lin Xin, after several confrontations with Spiritual Realm powerhouses, faintly began to sense the differences between the Spiritual Realm and the other Three Realms.

Roundabout Ethereality, the fourth level, also the final stage, had already loosened during the advancement of his Dao Weapon. Now, having touched upon the knack, Lin Xin’s progress also picked up speed.

Returning to the Dragon Serpent Realm, he both completed missions and searched for his future Land for God Worship.

However, he found no suitable place; the choice for the Land for God Worship was not only about selecting a location with sufficient Innate foundational strength, but it also needed enough popularity and a concentration of Elemental Energy that wasn’t too low.

Lin Xin was not in a hurry, continuing his search patiently. He just needed to find it before reaching the Perfection Realm. This was personally stated by his Honored Master of the Dragon Serpent Sect.

Finding the Land for God Worship, and then cultivating Dao Weapons to strengthen his cultivation and to find opportunities for breakthroughs.

Breaking through the Fifth Rank Human Immortal mostly involved the perception and understanding of Realms. Like before, simply finding a piece of territory and then cultivating Dao Weapons did not help much with personal improvement.

So Lin Xin was always very cautious.

In the blink of an eye, another ten years had passed.

In these ten years, Lin Xin didn’t do anything else, but he did accomplish one thing.

That was the understanding of Realms.

He spent these ten years settling down and accumulating, thoroughly stabilizing the Third Level Void Realm.

To both Shen Tang and other Fifth Rank Human Immortals, ten years was but a fleeting moment. For a Fifth Rank Human Immortal, not to mention a mere ten years, even a hundred years could pass like a snap of the fingers, with sometimes a single period of closed-door cultivation getting stuck and casually running out.

Intermittently, Lin Xin also kept an eye on the developments with his sister Lin Yaoyang and news from Song Danhao.

Lin Yaoyang’s family from the Lin Family in Yueyang had not openly sent anyone over since they left last time, as for whether they had made any secret contacts, that was beyond his knowledge.

Over ten years, Lin Xin gradually transferred over a thousand points of his Attributes to his sister.

This gradual and progressive increase allowed Lin Yaoyang to vaguely sense something, but she assumed that the heavenly treasures Lin Xin had found for her were extremely effective, combined with the secret technique to achieve such effects.

After transferring over a thousand points, Lin Xin wished to continue, but he faintly discovered a situation similar to cultivating Dao Weapons.

Lin Yaoyang was no longer able to accept more Attribute enhancements.

This was a limitation of the soul’s upper limit.

Unlike himself, such enhancements of Attributes could not increase Soul Power. This was considered the only flaw.

Lin Yaoyang would occasionally meet with Lin Xin. Both had affection for each other, yet no one broke through the thin barrier between them.

Lin Yaoyang had always been waiting for Lin Xin, feeling that there were still other things occupying his heart.

In the world of cultivation, time is of no consequence; both of them wouldn’t age easily because of their situation with Attributes, and with over a thousand points of Attributes, just lifespan alone could extend beyond a thousand years, comparable to a Yuan Jing Cultivator.

This also gradually calmed Lin Yaoyang’s mindset.

Originally, because she had only a short life span of ten or twenty years, she lived unrestrainedly and indulged in her desires. But now, her lifespan was replenished by the Attributes, far surpassing that of ordinary people. After Lin Xin clarified this, she gradually reined in her unrestrained behavior, becoming indistinguishable from normal people.

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Boom!

At the entrance of a cave in the Dragon Serpent Realm, a violent, thick smoke exploded, and large chunks of black flying rocks were hurled out, each the size of a millstone, flying tens to hundreds of meters and rolling on the ground, creating pits of varying sizes on the black lava surface in front of the cave entrance.

On both sides of the cave entrance, two guards clad in black and red Armor quickly intervened to deflect the flying rocks, their eyes focusing intently into the cave.

The thick smoke did not hinder their sight in the least.

"Hahaha!"

A man with disheveled robes and a weary but joyous face, with long hair, stepped out of the cave quickly.

"Spiritual Realm, Spiritual Realm, so this is it!"

He laughed heartily several times, his mood seemingly very pleasant.

This man was none other than Lin Xin, who, after returning from the outside, had only briefly undertaken a few missions before entering a decade of closed-door cultivation.

His cultivation had solidified, which was great news, and what was even better was that he had almost fully penetrated the true mystery of the Fourth Level Spiritual Realm.

Now what he lacked was only enough Taiqing Elemental Energy for condensation.

Once he had sufficient Taiqing Elemental Energy, he would be able to enhance the Green Yuan Cauldron, with an eighty percent chance of entering the Fourth Level Spiritual Realm, and then he could strive for the perfection of his cultivation and aim for the path of an Earth Immortal.

And the best way to accumulate Taiqing Elemental Energy and enhance his cultivation was to nurture Dao Weapons. By using Dao Weapons to hunt Void Demon Spirits en masse, he could amass enough for a breakthrough in cultivation.

"Alright, you guys can stand down, just stay nearby to guard," Lin Xin instructed the two Blood Dragon Children he had cultivated, which were comparable to Oro’s and had combat abilities around Fourth Rank First Level.

One Taoist Seed had produced nine Blood Dragon Children in total. Two had been sent to protect the Lin Yaoyang’s side, two had been dispatched to assist Lin Youke with business operations.

He kept two as his own personal guards, and the remaining three were directly scattered to various places in the Mortal Realm, to help Lin Chuan with the business there.

In these ten years, Lin Youke and the others had each dominated a small region on their own, opening a Dan and Artifact shop known as Xin Lin Hall.

Utilizing the privileges of the Lin Family at Green Lake Mountain, they individually peddled some elixirs unique to Green Lake Mountain.

In addition, there were the occasional batches of Soul Return Pills refined by Lin Xin.

A single Soul Return Pill could even swiftly heal the heavy injuries of a Human Immortal, not to mention those of lower-level cultivators.

From time to time, they took these out to establish the reputation of Xin Lin Hall, along with Lin Xin’s unique skill in micro-engraving Formation patterns, occasionally inscribing Magic Artifacts for sale as needed.

A Soul Return Pill was sold outside for the sky-high price of a Fifth Rank Magic Artifact, but even so, it was much cheaper than other pills of similar effects.

If it wasn’t for Lin Xin’s careful concealment and the backing of the Dragon Serpent Realm Master,

his Xin Lin Hall would have likely been unable to continue operating, overwhelmed and completely divvied up by other envious powers.

Just like during his time in the Underworld, Lin Xin directly allocated fifty percent of Xin Lin Hall’s business profits, giving twenty percent to his Honored Master, and the remaining thirty percent to his fellow brothers and sisters, three people in total, including Oro, each receiving ten percent.

Other disciples didn’t matter much; these five were the largest forces under the Dragon Serpent Sect.

Additionally, Lin Xin took another twenty percent and gave it to his uncle, the Dragon Turtle, who has been secretly protecting him numerous times over the past ten years.

Although only thirty percent remained in the end, the profits earned were still astonishing.

With the support of the entire Dragon Serpent Realm, Lin Xin quickly expanded the business across many islands of the Mortal Realm, establishing a branch on every somewhat large island.

His fellow brothers and sisters also cooperated well, sending people to protect the stores from being affected.

With money, Lin Xin was no longer as embarrassed and hard-pressed as he had been in the beginning.

More importantly, through the stores, he had started to establish his own intelligence network.

Leaving the Cave Mansion where he had sequestered himself, Lin Xin headed straight for the stone house where he had lived before.

Upon returning to the stone house, he quickly deactivated the multiple layers of Formations arranged outside. Pushing the stone door open, Lin Xin caught sight of a newly arrived message transmission Jade Slip floating on the table.

He reached out and sensed it, it was the latest news about the Demon God King’s journey after leaving the Buddha Domain, a topic that had been buzzing in the outside world recently.

’Song Danhao and others entered and exited the Ten Plates Realm, the Wheel of Destiny was activated, a Secret Treasure of the Demon God appeared, attracting many cultivators to search.’

’A Secret Treasure was discovered in the Ten Plates Realm, an Ancient Divine Artifact Thousand Sect Lotus, sparking a deadly melee.’

’Residual Fire Pills discovered in the Ten Plates Realm...’

’The Tiansheng Sect resurfaces... the Buddha Domain intervenes, the Four Seas Fairy Mountains intervene.’

’An Earth Immortal from the Illusory Sea Extreme Territory takes action, seizing the residual fire pills of the Tiansheng Sect. Song Danhao and his party become the target of public criticism.’

Rows of messages continuously streamed into Lin Xin’s mind, also marked with precise times.

Although most were well-known rumors that everyone knew, for Lin Xin who had remained in seclusion, it was the best way to understand the overall situation in the outside world.

But among all the messages, there was nothing about the Six Wang Zhu, nor about the Shadow Underworld.

He put down the Jade Slip, wiped the recorded inside, and let it shoot out, vanishing in an instant through the window.

Sitting down to drink some water, Lin Xin took out the Jade Talisman and unfolded the Task Wall.

Swish!

A greenish-blue light screen instantly appeared in front of him.

A vast array of various tasks still piled up massively.

Most of them were related to the Ten Plates Realm.

This unknown planar world, accidentally uncovered by Song Danhao and others, seemingly became the coveted prize in the eyes of all forces overnight.

Lin Xin shook his head slightly; he did not want to rush to join the hubbub now. Having just left his retreat, his realm was stable, and he wanted to pick a random task to loosen his muscles and earn some Contribution Points along the way.

He still needed just over a thousand Contribution Points to reach a total of twenty thousand, which he could use to buy a set of interlocking Continuous Nest Array Plates that he had had his eyes on for a long time in Green Lake Mountain—the Jade Gathering Array. Then, he would go look for a land to set a designated Land for God Worship.

This Array belonged to the comprehensive type of grand formation, including defense, detection, illusion, concealment, and most crucially, an ability to grant each allied Taoist soldier within it an additional set of Jade Gathering Armor, capable of resisting three attacks from below Fourth Rank. In the midst of chaos, this was akin to having three extra chances at life.

But these were not all; most importantly, the Formation itself was of a growth nature.

It had the ability to devour the flesh and Soul Power of the beings killed within, thus advancing its Rank position.

The initial Rank position was Fourth Rank, costing twenty thousand Contribution Points for a completed set of Array Plates, crafted by the research institute, similar to a Life Tower, and reportedly able to grow to a maximum of Sixth Rank.

Lin Xin removed all tasks related to the Ten Plates Realm, then checked those remaining with rewards of over a thousand points.

’Qiuyun Realm ruins exploration: Task Level Fifth Rank, team members 5/7. Contribution Points one thousand five hundred. Spoils to be discussed.’

’Kun Realm escort task: Level Fifth Rank, team members 2/5, Contribution Points one thousand two, must be skilled in Formation Path.’

’Luo Ye Realm exploration task: Ancient battlefield ruins exploration, team members 4/5, Contribution Points one thousand eight, must be adept at solving illusions.’

’Ruined Tomb exploration: Level Fifth Rank, the Ruined Tomb opened by Song Danhao, with the Resentful Spirit River’s overflow revealing clues to an Ancient Divine Artifact. Reward of one thousand three Contribution Points.’

There were quite a few of these Ruined Tomb explorations, most of them aimed at exploring Ancient Divine Artifacts, with Contribution Points mostly around one thousand three.

Lin Xin estimated the remaining Contribution Points he needed and finally set his sights on the task with the highest reward.

’Ruined Tomb exploration: Level Fifth Rank, bring all equipment yourself, investigate clues of Ancient Divine Artifacts, collect floating Magic Artifacts and elixirs in the Resentful Spirit River. Will delve deep into the Ruined Tomb; unwilling parties should not accept. Contribution Points, one thousand nine hundred.’