Chapter Twenty-Six: Catch Me and I Will Let You...

“Mm…”
“Ah…”
“Kimoji…”
“* (Profanity)…”
“Jiang Lin, you old scoundrel! Face me in a duel… ah…”
“Jiang Lin, you flower-thief! I, Zhu Liuzong, swear enmity with you until… urgh…”

Within the domain of Infinite Swordworks unfurled by Jiang Lin, he stood like a sage refining heaven and earth, his cultivation rising yet another level from the Foundation Cavern realm to the Sea-Gazing realm.

Foundation Cavern, Sea-Gazing—exiting the cave to behold the sea, one’s heart and vision naturally broaden. Cultivators refine both qi and mind. With the power of Sea-Gazing and a world shaped by his will, Jiang Lin moved as if a sword, a phantom amidst the flurry of flying blades that soared from the ground as if by command.

“You actually possess your own domain!”

In less than fifteen minutes, the Infinite Swordworks domain was littered with unconscious cultivators sprawled upon the ground, a few still twitching. Ye Liangchen and Zhao Hao, leaning on their swords, uttered their final words before collapsing in a froth of white foam.

Jiang Lin, with his back to them, slowly turned, lifted his head to the heavens, and declared, “Invincibility… why is it always so lonely…”

As his words fell, the domain vanished. Jiang Lin’s legs buckled, and he felt utterly spent, falling forward.

“Jiang Lin!”

Chen Jia hurried over to support him.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Just used my ultimate move and ran out of mana.”

Leaning on Chen Jia’s shoulder, Jiang Lin gasped for air. Honestly, when he used ‘I Am the Swordbone,’ he’d been scared—if he lost, the consequences would have been dire.

Yet unexpectedly, this R-ranked Infinite Swordworks was so powerful it had boosted his cultivation by a whole level.

The price, however, was the enormous drain on his energy; not even fifteen minutes had passed, and his spiritual power was nearly exhausted.

“Chen Jia.”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you smell so good?”

Resting his head on Chen Jia, Jiang Lin asked subconsciously.

Chen Jia smiled kindly, “Do you have a death wish?”

“…”

“The fourth zone shrink is beginning. The poison circle is contracting. All cultivators are requested to relocate as soon as possible…”

Just as Chen Jia’s murderous aura was rising behind him, a voice echoed throughout the secret realm from the heavens above!

“I’ll settle accounts with you later. Let’s go!”

With that, Chen Jia tried to heave Jiang Lin onto his back to escape the poison.

“Wait!”

Jiang Lin struggled free and walked toward the unconscious cultivators, rifling through their belongings. Aside from items refined as personal treasures, which he couldn’t take, everything else was pilfered into his spatial ring.

“What are you doing? Isn’t the Map of Rivers and Mountains already in your hands? The poison is almost here, and you’re still looting corpses?!”

The fourth poison circle was closing in ever faster, rapidly drawing near, yet this guy still found time to loot?

While Chen Jia, fuming, was about to kick Jiang Lin, the latter called him over to help loot, even offering a fifty-fifty split!

Chen Jia wanted to abandon this greedy bastard but felt it would be dishonorable…

They finished looting just as the poison touched their heels, leaving not even a scrap of clothing—only underwear remained.

With Jiang Lin on his back, Chen Jia took a deep breath and dashed forward.

Since the third shrink, the realm had been halved in size, leaving little safe territory. Clashes among cultivators became more intense, and with the fourth shrink, battles erupted everywhere—some even fighting while running from the poison.

“Jiang Lin, you flower-thief! Stop if you dare!”
“That’s Jiang Lin!”
“He’s the one who defiled my goddess!”
“Kill him!”
“Young Master Jiang, will you bear my children?”

As they ran from the poison, Jiang Lin was like a magnet for hatred, drawing pursuit from sects who abandoned their previous escape plans just to chase him down.

“You’re the flower-thief! Your whole family are flower-thieves! Catch me if you can! If you do, I’ll let you…”

Riding on Chen Jia’s back, Jiang Lin taunted relentlessly.

With flying forbidden, Chen Jia, a pure martial artist of the sixth realm (restricted to the fifth in the secret domain), outpaced all others like a wild stallion among a pack of huskies. Even among other martial artists of the same realm, there was no comparison.

“You beast! Forcing a girl to carry you—have you no shame?!”

A fellow martial artist shouted from behind.

“Who are you calling a girl?!”

Chen Jia whipped around and smashed his fist into the man, instantly triggering the latter’s protective talisman and eliminating him from the secret realm.

On the road of escape, Jiang Lin wasn’t the only target. Another cultivator, playing both sides, was hunted by his own senior and junior sisters. Rival sects took the opportunity to settle old scores, fighting as they ran.

Two suitors even came to blows over the same Daoist maiden, oblivious to the encroaching poison, and were eliminated together in the end.

As night fell, the fourth contraction ended. All survivors secured strategic positions—some lying in wait, some seeking fortune, others scouring for treasure.

After a day’s running, drenched in sweat, Chen Jia deposited Jiang Lin in a cave and tossed him a few wild rabbits.

Chen Jia sat to recover his strength while Jiang Lin cleaned the rabbits. From his storage ring he produced a brush, soy sauce, fine salt, cumin, and his own special barbecue sauce, and began to grill.

After a satisfying meal of roasted rabbit, Jiang Lin started dividing the spoils, but Chen Jia simply said, “Sort it yourself—I’m going to check the perimeter,” and walked off.

Jiang Lin didn’t mind. He poured out his loot and counted carefully.

Truth be told, even without the personal treasures, the rest fetched a good price, and from Zhao Hao and Ye Liangchen he’d found a wealth of high-grade spirit stones.

Those sects were truly wealthy.

But as Jiang Lin finished counting, the Map of Rivers and Mountains—due to its nature—couldn’t be stored away. As he reached for it in his robe, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

“Damn! Where’s my beautiful, artistic map?!”

Meanwhile, a kilometer away, a veiled young woman strolled through the grass.

“Hmm? What’s this?”

She bent down and picked up an oddly shaped piece of parchment—a fragment of a painting.