Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 746 - 741 New World 1

Chapter 746: Chapter 741 New World 1

Zhao Qiankun did not expect him to suddenly strike, but his reflexes were still sharp, and with a backward leap, a kick met Lin Xin’s palm as a reflex response.

The speed of the Qi Confronting the Sun Swordsmanship was not fast, but it was majestic and righteous. Once executed, it faintly possessed the overwhelming aura of a giant object crushing everything beneath it.

Zhao Qiankun’s kick fiercely met the attack, causing his heart to pound wildly, but then, with a loud thump, it collided with Lin Xin’s palm.

Pfft!

Ah!

Zhao Qiankun’s body shook violently, and he screamed in pain, retreating continuously while clutching his leg, almost losing his balance.

Two burly men rushed to support him.

"Big brother!"

"Big brother, are you alright!?"

Everyone was frightened.

Not just them, even the siblings Chen Jun and Chen Ying, and the surrounding servants, were also shocked.

This elderly master, over fifty, had unexpectedly made a move that forced Zhao Qiankun, such a robust and burly man, to stagger back, somewhat unsteadily.

This was indeed a rare sight.

At this moment, everyone around was looking at Lin Xin’s hand, curious to see if the hand had suffered any damage from the impact.

After all, it had withstood the force of the opponent’s leg.

But everyone could clearly see that Lin Xin’s palm was still thin and withered, without a trace of redness, and fully intact.

Now, the crowd was truly frightened—breaking someone’s leg while remaining completely unharmed oneself!

This disparity in strength was no longer on an ordinary level.

"Scram!"

Lin Xin said impatiently.

Zhao Qiankun stopped his subordinates who wanted to step forward, knowing that they had encountered a true master this time.

His face fluctuating between shades, after a moment’s struggle to recover his breath, he stood up and gave Lin Xin a salute.

"It turns out the elder master is also a martial artist, a fellow practitioner. I, Zhao, was presumptuous this time. Let’s go!"

He didn’t bother with further talk, leading his men out of the Chen residence without looking back.

Since he was a martial artist, and a master at that, the initial instigation had been his fault, and according to the rules of Jianghu, even if the other party had crippled him, it would not have been excessive.

Now, being magnanimously allowed to leave was already a mercy.

However, his non-pursuit did not mean that the matter was settled...

"Dad... when did you become so powerful!?"

Chen Ying, the young girl, had her eyes wide open as she looked at Lin Xin.

Both her brothers, Chen Jun and Chen Xiao, were also gaping, utterly at a loss for words.

"Would I be able to run the entire Yong’an Commerce Guild if I was not capable?"

Lin Xin, imitating the impatient tone of his previous identity Chen Ji, replied.

"Can you teach me this skill!?" Chen Ying’s face suddenly blushed, obviously exhilarated by the earlier demonstration.

After being oppressed for so long, she had endured much and was even ready to report to the authorities.

Yet, she hadn’t expected that her father, a man in his sixties or seventies, would resolve the matter with a single slap.

"We’ll talk about that later. Now, regarding what comes next, Zhao Qiankun won’t be bothering us again. If he does, send someone to fetch me."

He had not come to this world to simply idle around and flaunt his prowess to mortals.

This time, his main objectives were twofold.

One was to find the origin and shape the Origin Earth. To enter the Second Realm, the Origin Earth Realm.

The second was to seek the understanding of the power of joy.

While he had explored the emotions of the Seven Passions and Six Desires earlier through the Red Flower Sword Path and had delved deep when condensing the Taoist Intent,

Compared to now, it was all merely scratching the surface.

The Supreme Jiuyue Divine Wind Sword essentially refined emotions into pure power. By intensifying emotions to an extreme and condensing them, it ultimately formed a rule-like existence.

By condensing each emotion into a sword form and linking them through swordsmanship to reach the highest plane, entering the path through emotions—this was its most powerful aspect.

He needed to thoroughly comprehend the emotion of joy to initiate the First Layer of the Sword of Joy.

Mortals, being the group with the most abundant emotions of the Seven Passions and Six Desires, were his target subjects.

Having dealt with the business affairs at home, Lin Xin returned to his room alone, contemplating how to search for the world’s origin.

"The emotion of joy is easy, as it’s plentiful among mortals, but finding the world’s origin is more challenging..."

He sat cross-legged on his bed, seeking a breakthrough methodically.

"The world’s origin often connects with the largest patterns in the world’s operations. Significant changes could provoke shifts in the world’s origin. Therefore, to locate it, one must start by sensing the pulse of the world’s changes."

Having a Heavenly Venerable as his Honored Master, Lin Xin naturally had prepared plenty of relevant information beforehand, and he had also perused various records and books from the main Sect at Green Lake Mountain.

Thus, he had some leads on what to do next.

"So, what is the deepest change currently happening in this world?"

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

On the street, a group of soldiers in military uniforms jogged past Lin Xin.

These soldiers were not particularly strong, and their attitudes lacked integrity.

Whenever they saw young girls who looked attractive, the soldiers’ gazes took on an unsavory light.

Standing on the sidewalk, Lin Xin watched the flow of people dressed in long gowns and short clothes. He associated the setting with the very similar circumstances of late Qing dynasty on Earth.

He shook his head slightly and continued strolling at random.

A group of children ran past him, laughing heartily, holding snacks like candied hawthorns and sugar figures, clearly delighted.

Lin Xin’s spirit sense expanded, focusing on the children, keenly feeling their emotions.

"Happiness... joy... comes from satisfaction..."

He sensed the ever-laughing and excited souls of the children, and a slight smile appeared on his face.

Turning around, he walked onward.

Soon, he arrived outside a house that had posted the character for "happiness" on its door.

He observed the constant stream of guests coming and going at the family’s entrance, and that banquet tables were set up outside.

Inside, people were bustling to and fro, each one wearing a smile.

Lin Xin spread his spiritual senses, but felt that these people were merely feigning their smiles. In reality, the truly happy and joyful ones were only the seven or eight people inside.

The groom grimaced while toasting table by table.

Ironically, he was the least happy person there.

After standing at the family’s entrance for a short while, Lin Xin slowly turned and left.

Bang!

It was not far before, at the entrance of a large household, a middle-aged Taoist wearing a yellow robe was kicked out by the servants.

"How daring! To deceive even Master Wang! Truly, you have the guts of a bear and the heart of a leopard!"

"Let’s talk this over nicely! Please, Ouch!"

This Taoist was also trying to appease them, but was still beaten several more times by the servants with their clubs.

"What are you looking at?"

One of the servants noticed another Taoist standing nearby and immediately roared menacingly at him.

"Say another word, and I’ll cut your tongue off." Lin Xin stated coldly, immediately causing the servant to flinch slightly and dare not speak any further.

He was originally from a lineage of demon and evil paths, with an extremely fierce disposition. If not for restraining his presence, mere mortals, just by looking at him, could go blind.

Lin Xin, however, ignored them, glanced at the Taoist on the ground, and passed by from the side, continuing forward.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait! Wait!"

The Taoist behind him hurriedly got up and chased after him.

"Is there something?"

Lin Xin had no time for him, furrowed his brows, and asked.

"Are you from the Taoist sect?"

The yellow-robed Taoist asked in a low voice.

"The entire sect is in chaos now, they say they have to completely clean up and inspect all the Taoists!"

"What do you mean?"

Lin Xin paused and looked at him intently.

The Taoist looked around, saw no one nearby, then leaned in and whispered.

"Fellow Daoist seems unaware. Well... as long as you treat me to a banquet, I’ll tell you everything I know! It could spare you some disaster too."

He said mysteriously.

Lin Xin’s spiritual senses spread out and found this person didn’t seem to be lying; he appeared quite confident, likely having genuine information to share.

Moreover, the fellow was starving, having nothing in his stomach—probably intending to use this information to get some food and drink from him.

"Alright. Come with me."

He casually responded.

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

A moment later.

The two sat opposite each other in a large restaurant in the city, with dishes and drinks spread all over the table.

The aroma was inviting and tempting.

"So, what’s it about?"

Lin Xin, not wanting to beat around the bush, asked straightforwardly.

"They want to clean up all matters of gods and spirits. The Taoist Association is in the front line, considered a gathering of charlatans, and has already been dismantled.

"You might not know this, fellow Daoist. The current rulers don’t believe in Taoist arts or in karmic retribution! They see it as sedition and want to regulate the entire Taoist and Buddhist circles.

Not long ago, you must also know about the Qinglong Temple incident, tsk tsk, that was thousands of monks, gone in one night without a trace!"

"A clean-up?"

Lin Xin repeated, his keen senses alerting him to something potentially related to him.

"A clean-up to the extent that they would arrest even us Taoists who don’t hold rituals?"

"That’s not certain! In recent days, several nearby Taoist temples have been raided, smashed, looted, some even losing their lives! This is cutting the roots of our Association!"

The yellow-robed Taoist said this while biting into a chunk of meat, chewing a few times before swallowing and taking a sip of wine.

"Anyway, the army just captures anyone they see holding rituals, be they monks or Taoists, it’s the same treatment. So, fellow Daoist, I advise you to go hide in the mountains for a while, avoid the limelight for now."

In saying this, the yellow-robed Taoist did show some sincerity, having eaten the man’s food after all.

"Hide for a while?"

Lin Xin did not expect the situation to be so dire for his current identity, though he still took it lightly.

Who else could stand against him in this world if there were no cultivators?

His real trouble was how to find a clue, be it the source or the essence of joy, he’d made no substantial breakthrough.

In the previous world, to say it was he who found the boundary stone rather than Yao Yuanhui who had given it to him.

Fate seemed to have unconsciously chosen him, otherwise why would the boundary stone appear directly from the medicinal garden behind his mountain?

But now, in this world, he was completely stumped.

After the feast, the yellow-robed Taoist bowed to Lin Xin with hands clasped, thanked him, and then turned and left.

Lin Xin didn’t return but continued wandering around the city, soon arriving at the dock area.