True Solution of the Sword Dao

Amid the crackling and popping of firecrackers, Lin Jianguo stood smiling by the entrance of the bookstore, with the remnants of the firecrackers flying all over the place. The thick smell of gunpowder and the accompanying smoke shrouded the whole area.

Today was the grand opening of the bookstore’s new branch. Lin Jianguo had gotten up early. By his side stood Jiang Feng, as well as a beautiful young woman in a plain white business suit with pearl earrings—none other than the Xiaoling who claimed to be Lin Fei’s friend. Ever since she appeared directly in front of Lin Fei’s family that day, she started frequenting Lin Fei’s home. After several visits, she also helped Lin Jianguo quite a bit and naturally became familiar with them quickly. This was also a step she had planned from the beginning.

A few minutes after the firecrackers had been set off, leaders who had come uninvited began to step forward to congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Lin Jianguo.

"I wish Xingzhi Bookstore more and more success. Old Lin, let’s grab a drink together sometime," chuckled a director from the city education bureau, walking over with a familiar air as if he knew Lin Jianguo very well. He was Lin Jianguo’s elementary school classmate, but just the other day, they bumped into each other on the street, and the man pretended not to recognize him. Today, for some reason, he had a change of heart and took the initiative to come over to celebrate the opening of the new branch.

Although he wondered why, Lin Jianguo still stepped forward to shake hands with this ’old classmate.’

"Thank you for the kind words, Director Yuan. I’ll be looking forward to your continued support in the future."

"Of course, of course!" Director Yuan nodded repeatedly.

Then came a leader from the city library to offer his congratulations. Lin Jianguo didn’t dare to neglect him; the library was part of the bookstore’s long-term orders. They chatted amiably and exchanged some pleasantries.

Following that, not only public institutions but also some private enterprises, seemingly out of nowhere, came to offer their congratulations, regardless of whether they had any connection to the bookstore. In any case, they all approached with beaming faces.

Lin Fei and Lin You stood behind their parents. He also understood what these people meant. Because of the bookstore, anyone in a field connected to the bookstore had greeted him on his behalf. The implication of their attendance was simply to indicate that they had put in an effort or intended to do so.

Lin Jianguo had borrowed five hundred thousand from his old classmate Chen Jingde to open this branch. In the past few days, he received several long-term orders, and his smile was now almost too wide for his face. After carefully calculating with Jiang Feng, they were startled. The recent long-term orders could generate stable profits of over a hundred thousand each month, and compared to their previous income, this was like heaven and earth apart. The money borrowed from Chen Jingde could be repaid in just a few months. After some thought, Lin Jianguo couldn’t understand the source of these unusual orders and attributed it to Chen Jingde, believing he had initiated them. Therefore, he proposed to use the money from Chen Jingde as a stake and register it as the store’s capital, giving him twenty percent of the profits each month.

With this suggestion, Chen Jingde hadn’t done much for the business, yet suddenly he received such a return from an old friend, which moved him deeply. He recalled his hard times when he was down and out, and only Lin Jianguo treated him normally. Combining the two feelings, he was even more touched and immediately began actively securing more orders from his network for the bookstore. He decided to reciprocate the kindness.

Naturally, the relationship between the two families grew closer. Lin Jianguo often visited Chen Jingde’s home, and whenever Chen Jingde had free time, he would come over to Lin Jianguo’s place for a drink. The little bit of estrangement due to the difference in their status vanished in an instant.

Of course, he was present for the opening of the new branch. After the random leaders had left, he arrived fashionably late, parking his silver Passat at the bookstore’s entrance.

Chen Yuanyuan also got out of the car. She seemed to be reminded by her father to be much warmer towards the Lin family. However, whenever Chen Yuanyuan thought back to the events of that evening, she couldn’t help but feel strange. She had tried to find out what happened next but couldn’t since no one was connected to those thugs, leaving her with no information. She was convinced that Lin Fei must have been badly beaten up that night. Thinking that the trouble was originally caused by her and others, yet Lin Fei had to bear the brunt of it, made her feel quite uneasy and guilty toward Lin Fei.

"You’ve arrived, Old Chen." Lin Jianguo greeted Chen Jingde, while Jiang Feng instructed a few newly hired girls to clean up the surroundings. When hiring employees for the branch, Lin Fei also gave her father some advice. It was best to hire male and female staff who were both good-looking and had a good figure, and the decoration of the branch should also be emphasized. After all, choosing books often depends on the environment. A good atmosphere leaves a good impression, which can attract more repeat customers. Additionally, the quality of the staff—both physically and intellectually—had to be taken into account. In the end, Lin Jianguo still picked a group of employees from the local technical college.

Chen Jingde glanced around, "Not bad, Jianguo, it looks very promising here!"

"It’s all thanks to everyone’s support!" Lin Jianguo was in high spirits.

Chen Yuanyuan’s gaze involuntarily shifted to Lin Fei, and Chen Jingde noticed it.

"Yuanyuan, why don’t you and Feifei discuss your studies on the side? You’re all nearly facing the college entrance exams. You can exchange learning experiences," he suggested.

"Oh." Chen Yuanyuan obediently responded and walked over on her own initiative.

Lin Fei was now constantly guiding the True Force to circulate actively, almost growing stronger each minute. The news from Sis had put him on high alert, and the cultivation of the Tracing Shadow Sword Art seemed to undergo a new change when reaching the Second Form. The required circulation route for True Force was so intricate that it made Lin Fei’s cultivation process exceedingly difficult.

Moreover, the classified documents he applied for had also arrived, and he spent every spare moment delving into this information.

Thus, he had gained a certain understanding of the entire Inner World.

Around the world, there are three most powerful Inner World organizations—the Temple of the Gods, the Religious Faction, and the Heretics.

According to true history, since the ancient times, there was actually only one organization, the Temple of the Gods. Later, due to disagreements, some of the top figures independently broke away and established the Religious Faction. Following that, the Heretics were also founded by top powerhouses who had ideological differences with the others.

Both the Tower of the Dark Night and the Tower of Glory belong to the Religious Faction. Shueisha falls under national organizations, and correspondingly, other countries have their own organizations as well.

The relationships between the three major organizations are complex. The Temple of the Gods is the strongest but seems the most detached. Usually, it’s their subsidiary organizations that are active. Top figures rarely show themselves. Although their strength far exceeds the other organizations, they seem to lack any ambition. The Religious Faction and the Heretics, on the other hand, are absolute mortal enemies. Only the so-called Heretics that Lin You encountered at the beginning battled only with some of the Temple of the God’s subsidiary groups. In fact, it could be said that the Heretics unilaterally considered the Temple their enemy.

In the entire Inner World, Martial Artists have long since faded from the historical stage. Psychics hold the main position now. They are active among assassins, mercenaries, and dark forces. Some Psychics, combining the power of technology, have reached a certain height, mainly led by the United States. Others still follow the traditional route, cultivating power through influence. And influence largely stems from the materialization of human fantasy into reality, resulting in some mythical and fantastical species being recreated by Psychics. Thus, countless magical legends have been born.

The exact origin of influence is no longer traceable, but some scholars of psychic abilities believe that the principle behind influence is not as elusive as imagined. The most prominent of these scholars is named Hammer Haili, who proposed the theory of the cultivation of influence. It suggests that influence is the product of human will twisting reality, but this twist is not a crude distortion; it must follow a modification of natural laws. To modify, one must first understand the natural laws, making influence difficult to comprehend. This is the first academic model, about the theory of influence, that has been recognized by the entire academic community.

This information greatly expanded Lin Fei’s horizons. After all, there hadn’t been a way for her to learn about this before. And the recent calm of the Yan Shi mark had greatly improved her mood. It seemed like her cultivation was speeding up due to her better spirits.

Regarding the intelligence on Sis, Lin Fei had already submitted a report. Such an extremely dangerous person absolutely deserves to be called an international terrorist. As the head of a branch office, she naturally had the right to request support. Considering the higher-ups’ evaluation of her, they would likely send a powerful expert to defend. Of course, she had never trusted Shunyan’s cooperation. Their enmity was one of fratricide, almost as bad as with Sis. Thus, his words couldn’t be taken at face value. Most of her hope was placed on the strong allies dispatched from above. In reality, Lin Fei could never accept the idea of relying on others to such an extent. That’s why she seized every moment to cultivate. When the battle arrived, even the slightest improvement could make a world of difference.

According to her estimates, reaching the Peak of the First Realm’s First Layer should enable her to achieve a C-level status. Based on the records, each breakthrough of a layer signifies a qualitative change. Now that she was already at D-level, another qualitative leap could only mean C-level.

Currently, she had only mastered the Seventh Diagram, and although it had reached its Peak these days, she could only practice the Second Form of the Tracing Shadow Sword Techniques. The subsequent progress was exceedingly difficult. Even with the acceleration from the new True Force, it was impossible to break through too quickly. And the apparent power of Tracing Shadow Sword Art seems to only slightly increase one’s speed. It hadn’t achieved a qualitative change. So, facing Sis, she felt uncertain.

Actually, she harbored a small desire—if only she could obtain a few Core Beads from C-level powerhouses, she would have a much greater confidence in withdrawing unscathed from an encounter with Sis. The leap in power from absorbing the last bead had left her somewhat mesmerized.

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

"What!" Jiang Yuansheng’s lips trembled as his complexion turned pale. He gripped the phone, pressing it tightly to his ear. "Say that again?" he asked softly.

A young man’s resigned voice came from the other end of the line, "I’m sorry, Uncle Jiang, this was an accident too. I didn’t expect such a huge change, and I’ve also lost tens of thousands myself."

"Li Qiang, are you really not joking? Uncle can’t take this kind of scare!" There was a pleading tone in Jiang Yuansheng’s voice.

"Nope! It’s true! Uncle Jiang, sigh... I won’t have the face to see you after this, so let’s just leave it here." The line went dead with a click.

Jiang Yuansheng stood still, holding the receiver at the telephone.

"Yuansheng, what’s wrong?" His wife emerged from the kitchen, "I forgot to tell you, Lin Jianguo’s branch actually opened. He called this morning, said he wanted us to come over and show some support."

Click! 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

The receiver fell, hanging midair on its cord. Jiang Yuansheng had a blank look on his face. He forced out a smile, more painful than crying, towards his wife.

"We’re finished... We’re all finished."

"What’s finished, be more specific!" His wife was frightened by his demeanor.

But Jiang Yuansheng was in a state of shock.