Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 120 - 116: Take Action Part 2

Chapter 120: Chapter 116: Take Action Part 2

"It’s time to choose a magic artifact for the Heart Blood Sacrificial Refinement..." He picked up the Red Flower Sword, which seemed most suitable at the moment.

Without any hesitation, he bit his tongue tip and sprayed a mouthful of essential blood onto the blade.

Then he extended his index and middle fingers, joining them together, and slowly wiped from the base of the blade upwards.

The icy blade, touched by Lin Xin’s fingers, emitted a progressively richer red glow where his fingers passed. It was the glow naturally emanated by the molten iron when activated by Innate Qi.

But Lin Xin had a faint sense that within this red light, there seemed to be a hint of blood color.

As his fingers evenly reached the tip of the sword.

He suddenly released all of the Innate Qi within his body, pouring it into the Red Flower Sword.

At the same time, the Heart Blood Refinement Decree began to guide the Innate Qi to mix with the essential blood on the Red Flower Sword, integrating them and imprinting his own spirit mark inside the sword.

The consciousness-spirit continuously led the Innate Qi in the Red Flower Sword, setting up one Sacrificial Refinement Formation after another. Innate Qi would form the formations within the Red Flower Sword. This was a method only those adept in formations could use; an ordinary person could only rely on a time-consuming process to achieve harmonization.

Before long, all his Innate Qi surged into the sword body, leaving him feeling empty inside.

After what seemed like several breaths.

With a sudden boom, all the Innate Qi within the sword surged back in reverse.

Lin Xin’s Qi-Blood surged, his complexion reddened, and he felt that the reversing Innate Qi carried a crystal-clear sensation that he had never felt before. It was as if something more had been added to it, giving him a more fulfilled feeling.

Guiding this brand new Innate Qi, he began to attempt the formation of a small Return to Origin at his lower abdomen.

However, the Innate Qi did not seem to heed his command well and still required time to be harmonized and nourished.

Lin Xin did not hesitate, clasping the Demon Talisman Seed in his hand and infusing it with Inner Qi.

Hiss...

The carriage suddenly appeared behind him.

He leaped back and just then, he heard a stern shout coming from afar.

A white light rapidly shot toward him, the halo engulfing a robust man wielding a long knife. It was the same fellow who had severely injured him last time.

Lin Xin smiled at him and his body disappeared into the carriage, the door closing behind him, vanishing into thin air.

Boom!

The ground was directly hit by the white light, blasting open a large pit.

The long knife-wielding man stood in the pit, his face ashen as he surveyed the bloody, gruesome scene around him.

Ah!!!

He suddenly roared into the sky.

"You... can’t escape...!!" he used a language that Lin Xin could also understand.

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

Inside the carriage.

Lin Xin checked his status bar again.

’Return to Origin Decree—Ninth Layer. (Completion 40%) (Damage +9, Constitution +9), Additional Effect: Sword Qi.’

Sitting down, he took another look at the corpse beside him, ensuring it was still in the same state, which somewhat relaxed his mind.

As he slowly regulated his Inner Qi, Lin Xin felt a faint connection between himself and the Red Flower Sword, as if the Red Flower Sword was part of his body, able to be commanded at will, a sensation of a blood-flesh connection.

With each cycle of Qi regulation, Innate Qi would flow into the Red Flower Sword, then back into his body.

"This is the Ninth Layer... Great Perfection, after this comes the impact on the small Return to Origin. Once a small Return to Origin is formed, true Spiritual Energy can be condensed, and one can become a Qi Cultivator."

The aspiration swelled within Lin Xin’s heart; his lifelong dream was finally about to be realized. To become a Qi Cultivator was not only about power, wealth, and influence, but most importantly, the longing for Longevity, for the Dao, the unknown aspects of the world.

He was not willing to live for just a few decades and then disappear into the earth.

The carriage slowly halted, the door opening.

Lin Xin opened his eyes and stepped out of the carriage, holding the Red Flower Sword.

He looked back at the carriage, the white-clad corpse seemed to be watching him quietly and eerily from the darkness, as if mocking or anticipating something.

Faintly, he felt that utilizing the Demon Talisman Seed to promote cultivation through slaughter was not a good decision.

But since the choice was already made, regret was pointless.

In the quiet and gloomy inner courtyard, Lin Xin, holding the sword, walked to the large tree where he and Xiao Lingling had shared life-and-death moments, and sat down where Xiao Lingling had sat during the day.

He continued to cultivate the Red Flower Sword in the cross-legged position.

Heart Sword bonding and Innate Qi exchange and circulation needed to be nurtured over a long time to gradually achieve the realm of the Heart Sword as one with the intent.

Also, once the returning Innate Qi was replenished, it would truly lay the foundation for forming the small Return to Origin.

Before he knew it, Lin Xin opened his eyes again, only to find himself lying on his bed. Xiao Lingling was sleeping next to him, snuggled up against him.

He turned his head to look at Xiao Lingling’s ever-alluring face.

Breathing in the faint scent of rouge emanating from her body, he reached out his hand and gently touched Xiao Lingling’s smooth cheek.

He reflected on the past decade or more, which seemed all but a dream.

"In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed..." he sighed inwardly. Moments before, they seemed to be relying on each other in the Trial Cave; the next moment, it was already ten years later...

Xiao Lingling’s cheek was slightly cool to the touch, smooth and delicate, like fine warm jade.

Lin Xin reluctantly withdrew his hand, rose from the bed, and slowly got dressed, fastening his sword to his waist.

He had to go to Moon Gorge alone, and for the sake of his father’s safety, this trip was necessary.

It required an early departure from the manor and he wouldn’t reach his destination until the evening.

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

The black sky was adorned with a waxing crescent moon.

Inside Moon Gorge, the valley was strewn with rugged rocks, with various strangely shaped boulders covering the entire gorge. The mountains on both sides were silent and dark, as if devoid of any living creatures.

Lin Xin walked through the gorge with his sword in hand. The moonlight shone upon him, reflecting a faint white light. The hem of his moon-white robe brushed against the rocks beneath his feet, quickly becoming stained with a smear of gray and black.

Lin Xin didn’t mind and continued to walk through Moon Gorge step by step.

Before long, the moon rose to the center of the night sky.

He stopped and looked around.

"This is the agreed place. Come out," he called out loudly.

His voice echoed, and soon after, two figures emerged slowly from the darkness in the corner, one in front of the other, surrounding Lin Xin in between them.

One of them held a cloth bag which apparently contained a person, motionless; it was unclear whether they were dead or alive.

"Star Calamity Hall?" Lin Xin glanced at the cloth bag and asked.

The man holding the cloth bag cracked a slight smile.

"Quite clever, figuring out it’s us so quickly."

"You tried to assassinate me ten years ago, and after so many years without activity, could it be you gave up?" Lin Xin asked calmly, as if he wasn’t the slightest bit worried about Lin Zhiwen’s safety.

"Give up? Impossible!" the woman scoffed. "Once Star Calamity Hall takes on a mission, regardless of the time limit, we must complete it. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even accept it!"

The man opened the cloth bag, and Lin Zhiwen’s unconscious body was revealed inside.

With a swift move, he threw Lin Zhiwen onto the ground and unsheathed his knife, pointing it at Lin Zhiwen’s head with a whoosh.

"Alright, if you don’t want your dad to die, just obediently follow my orders!"

Lin Xin’s eyes narrowed.

"You have quite a few tricks up your sleeve, talisman swords, talisman artifacts, throw them all over here!" the man threatened with a chuckle. "Coming here on your own, I don’t believe you didn’t bring your best stuff!"

After scrutinizing the man for a moment, Lin Xin slowly reached behind his back and took off his Solar Yang Talisman Sword, as well as the Luminous Talisman Sword, Red Flower Sword, and others, throwing them all onto the ground one by one.

"Don’t play any tricks. My junior sister was poisoned by you once with a surprise attack; this time, throw out everything on you!" The woman was even more cautious.

Lin Xin paused for a moment and emotionlessly threw out everything from his body. Among them were elixir bottles, various talisman papers, and some secret small components, including the Luminous Talisman Stone.

"Throw them all here, to me!"

The woman shouted loudly.

Lin Xin glanced at her and bent down to toss the items over one by one.

The woman hurriedly picked up and stowed each item, occasionally showing a gleam of joy in her eyes, which elicited a slight sense of pity from Lin Xin. For a Qi Cultivator to show such greed for the possessions of an opponent not even at the Innate level, it was evident how difficult her daily life must be.

"Junior sister, we can do it now," the man chuckled. "Didn’t expect this guy to be so compliant."

"Not so fast." The woman finished storing the items. "This guy doesn’t seem like the type to surrender without a fight, I suspect a ruse!"

Lin Xin remained expressionless.

"A ruse? You are both far superior in cultivation compared to me, and you’re still afraid of me, an ordinary Innate with less than complete Qi Cultivation? Just release my father, and I’ll listen to everything you say."

"No way!" The woman lifted her head, her cautiousness unchanged. "You first cut off one of your arms!"

"Cut off one of my arms?" Lin Xin was astonished and somewhat amused. "Do I look like a fool to you?" he asked, as if looking at an idiot.

The woman was also taken aback, not expecting Lin Xin to remain so composed at this time.

"Wrong! It’s a trick!" she suddenly screamed.

But it was too late. Lin Xin did a backflip, shooting towards the man behind him like lightning, his body igniting with clusters of faint blue flames at some point. Dense and numerous, his whole body seemed to be enveloped in that eerie blue glow.

The man was startled and quickly tried to stab Lin Zhiwen, only to be shocked to see black vines with silver stripes burst from the ground, blocking his way. Additional roots dragged Lin Zhiwen underground in an instant.

"Merely a man-eating flower!"

He urged his spiritual energy, accelerating his sword forms.

Clang!

The vines exploded in an instant, and his own thrust was also unexpectedly blocked.

The man tried to activate his spiritual energy again but was alarmed to find his body weak and unable to exert any strength.

"I’m poisoned!"

He couldn’t understand how Lin Xin, apparently stripped of everything, managed to poison him without any visible use of poisonous pills or powders. Where had the poison come from?

By the time, Lin Xin had already reached him. Lin Xin swung a palm towards him that appeared gentle and light, but suddenly, the Innate Qi surged, and a layer of white light faintly radiated from the edge of his hand.

Up close, the man finally saw clearly that Lin Xin had his hands and body covered in dense, intricate formation patterns.

He... he had actually engraved the formations onto his own body!!! (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)