Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 116 - 112: The Wind Rises - Part 2

Chapter 116: Chapter 112: The Wind Rises - Part 2

"Regarding their character, if it’s someone cold and indifferent, leave them be and act according to the rules. If it’s a person of great virtue, and the enemy isn’t too powerful, offer appropriate help to foster a sense of belonging to the Manor," Lin Xin replied offhandedly. "It’s best to select the orphans we’ve raised ourselves for key cultivation."

"In this way, after another ten years, my Spirit Heart Villa might no longer depend solely on us, the older generation..." he remarked somewhat emotionally.

"Villa Master is wise," Ou Yinghong said with a hint of admiration showing on her face. With such arrangements, the Manor could only grow stronger.

The two left the side hall.

Lin Xin felt a headache coming on, lit a stick of Concentration Incense, and watched the smoke slowly rise. He rested for a while, then pulled open a drawer, which contained a very small black bell. He gently tugged on it.

Soon, a person entered the side hall, his hair white but his movements agile. It was Gongsun Li.

"Villa Master."

"Old Li, is there any important news? Have you found the whereabouts of that mysterious elder?" Lin Xin asked in a soft voice as he watched him close the door.

"There’s still no news of the mysterious elder. However, my spies have recently discovered someone inconspicuously inquiring about the Manor. The border regions also received news of a possible breach, likely by a demon from the Demon Path," Gongsun Li reported. He now also belonged to the inner levels of the sect, although only at the First Layer of the Return to Origin, having ascended through the aid of the Blood Pill Method. Lin Xin, as a person in charge of this skill up to the Third Layer, had the authority to freely pass this teaching.

"Demon Path demon..." Lin Xin sighed, "It’s been many years since we’ve heard such news. What about the Slaughterer? Have his Feiyi Hall investigate, see who it is."

"I’ll give the orders in a bit," Gongsun Li nodded. He was now the second in command of the Manor, after Lin Xin, responsible for the most secretive intelligence work.

After chatting briefly with Gongsun Li, Lin Xin felt a bit tired and went back to his room to rest.

In the evening, after dining, he played the piano for a while with Xiao Lingling, and let her take a longevity-enhancing herbal elixir. These were genius treasures he had collected over the years, possibly extending Xiao Lingling’s life.

He went to bed at night.

Lin Xin had barely closed his eyes when he felt his consciousness flicker slightly.

Sleep vanished instantly.

He opened his eyes to find himself lying alone in bed. This time, even Xiao Lingling was gone. It was just him.

He got up, got out of bed, dressed, and equipped his sword.

Lin Xin methodically, meticulously, prepared everything. The last item he donned was a pouch.

He opened the door, and the carriage was already waiting at the front door.

The pitch-black carriage door faced him, resembling a dark, bottomless abyss.

He secretly pressed the Demon Talisman Seed in his hand, having collected three in total, but this time he brought just one.

He slowly stepped into the dark carriage, and the door closed behind him.

He sat down, straightened his posture, and regulated his breath.

Time slowly passed, and after an unknown duration, the carriage gently halted and stopped.

Lin Xin opened his eyes and saw the carriage door slowly open again.

Outside was a scorched, smoking black soil with faint glimmers of fire flickering near it. A strong smell of scorch entered the carriage.

He faintly heard people talking outside, in the same weird dialect as the last time, the long-waisted people’s.

Sitting in the carriage, he slowly drew out his Red Flower Sword, touching its pitch-black flat blade.

"Test it out," he murmured.

He lightly flicked the blade, and in an instant, he shot out of the carriage.

Next to a burning wooden tavern, a group of long-waisted people in black clothes, carrying curved swords, were searching for something.

Suddenly, a dark Sword Shadow silently emerged from the void, swiping across the neck of one of the long-waisted people.

Chi!

Blood splattered.

One of the searching long-waisted people’s curved sword fell, as he clutched his throat, his eyes wide, and he knelt to the ground.

Instantly, the whole group of long-waisted people fell into chaos, some shouting all around on alert, others running towards the slain.

The Black Sword passed through a throat, and a dark figure shot out from behind the sword handle, tumbling through the air for several meters before the sword struck again, slashing another long-waisted person’s throat.

Lin Xin activated the Inner Qi in his sword.

Sssss...!

Six points of White Light suddenly lit up, shooting towards six of the attacking long-waisted people from all directions.

Six points of blood light flashed, and six long-waisted people had only drawn their swords halfway before Lin Xin sheathed his sword and killed them.

Finally, he stepped forward, his blade sweeping ferociously in a Cross Slash across the last blocking long-waisted person’s front.

Boom!

The seven-plus-meter-long body was forcibly cut through the curved sword and also split in two at the waist like a noodle.

He fell to the ground wailing, red blood pouring out along with a lot of intestines and white entrails. It took over ten seconds before he finally expired.

"They are all ordinary people," Lin Xin frowned. He’d burst out thinking he might encounter the terrifyingly strong opponents from the past from the Qi Refinement Realm. But this time, it was just ordinary long-waisted people with no Inner Qi.

He looked around.

The burning building was a lonely tavern located on the outskirts. He was standing beside a dirt road, unable to see anyone around; there were just a few dirty ox-cart frames left by the roadside.

On his right, the tavern’s fire blazed more intensely, and a burnt smell of meat faintly lingered in the air.

He glanced at his status bar.

Lin Xin was now completely certain that his cultivation improvement originated from the Longwaist people.

He had just killed nine Longwaist individuals, and his minor "Return to Origin" technique had instantly advanced to 99%.

’Return to Origin—The Seventh Layer. (Completion 99%) (Damage +7, Physique +7)’.

"The innate energy is actually brimming over..." Although he had somewhat anticipated this, he still found it hard to believe. After struggling for years without breaking through, he was now on the verge of a breakthrough after merely killing a few beings from another race in such a short time.

"As long as I manipulate the innate energy and follow the pathways of the Eighth Layer to break through, I can enter the Eighth Layer..." He took a deep breath and recalled the "Return to Origin" technique of the Eighth Layer, which he had bought and memorized long ago.

As the innate energy circulated slightly, a multitude of cool threads explosively burst forth from his abdomen, frantically stabbing towards the Eighth Layer’s body meridians.

Plop.

Like piercing through a balloon’s skin, he easily broke through the Eighth Layer’s meridians. The innate energy once again formed a larger inner Qi circulation route.

"The Eighth Layer..." Lin Xin felt a swell throughout his body, knowing he had broken through.

He looked at his status again.

’Return to Origin—The Eighth Layer. (Completion 1%) (Damage +8, Physique +8), Additional Effect: Sword Qi.’

He suddenly recalled that his senior brother in the Yellow Shirt at the Eighth layer could easily emit Sword Qi, realizing this ability was inherently part of the "Return to Origin" technique at this level.

"Right, the Demon Talisman Seed."

He quickly began searching around, and on the bodies of the nine slain Longwaist individuals, he soon found another Demon Talisman Seed.

He stowed it in his pouch but didn’t plan to leave just yet. Instead, he walked away from the burning tavern toward the distant part of the road.

This was a very small town, with scattered small houses on both sides, mud-brick and tile houses, occasionally a slightly nicer bungalow, but all lifeless.

Not far out, Lin Xin saw corpse after corpse of Longwaist individuals appearing within his sight. They looked like civilians, seemingly killed while fleeing.

"This must have been a village that was massacred... The ones I just killed must have been staying behind to search for something..." He had a faint suspicion.

"Hahaha..." Loud laughter and crying were heard from a distance. It seemed that many people were ahead.

Lin Xin’s heart raced, as the Longwaist people, in his eyes, were treasures, moving sources of innate energy!

With a casual wave of his hand, whoosh, his Red Flower Sword emitted a beam of pure white Sword Qi, around a finger’s length.

The Sword Qi left a dark scorched mark on the ground, cutting a small gash into the earth.

"Indeed, the power has greatly increased!" Lin Xin felt the consumption of inner Qi, which was less than one percent.

Moreover, the damage inflicted by just this single stroke of the sword was at least equivalent to what previously required a specialized Sword Technique move to achieve.

"The gap between the Eighth and Ninth Layers, and the previous realms, is indeed vast..."

He hurriedly walked towards the direction of the sounds.

Soon, in a small square ahead by a well, a few Longwaist individuals were unfastening their belts with lecherous grins, slowly advancing towards a limp Longwaist on the ground.

From Lin Xin’s angle, it looked as if several pale, thick noodles with limbs were pressuring a slightly thinner flattened noodle...

He sighed speechlessly. What should have been a tragic scene was utterly twisted by these bizarre thoughts.

Without a word, he charged forward, sword in hand.

The noodly figures hadn’t reacted when his Sword Shadow flashed, each throat slashed, Sword Qi bursting through their bodies.

The female noodle on the ground screamed; her body, even while lying down, was two heads taller than Lin Xin, and she desperately shrank back.

Whoosh!

Lin Xin thrust his sword into her throat and emotionlessly withdrew it.

"They’re just noodles after all....." He felt absolutely no guilt killing these beings from another race.

Soon, six people lay dead.

He glanced at his status, and saw that the Eighth Layer’s percentage had increased by 30%. It was now at 31%.

"So fast..." He clearly felt his body being enveloped by a warm, comforting current furiously circulating inside, very soothing.

"A single noodle person now only yields 5%? It’s halved..." Lin Xin understood this was likely due to the human body’s adaptation causing resistance, just like with precious medicinal resources which, consumed frequently, would lead to tolerance, whether good or bad stimulation.

"Perhaps it’s because the total amount of innate energy needed for the Eighth Layer has doubled, so it appears halved..."

He searched the other noodle people’s bodies with his sword and found no Demon Talisman Seed. It appeared that the previous Demon Talisman Seed was an anomaly, no wonder there was only one, maybe some unlucky individual had found it elsewhere.