Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 121 - 117: Slaughter - Part 1

Chapter 121: Chapter 117: Slaughter - Part 1

The white light palm gently touched the man’s lower abdomen while his spiritual energy was insufficient due to poisoning.

With a puff,

The palm firmly stamped on the man’s body, sounding as dull as if it had struck leather.

The palm force was not very strong, at most it was of the Innate Level power, sufficient to break a large tree or a common iron weapon, but it was a minor skill against a Qi Cultivator.

But at this moment, the cultivators were just ordinary people without the protection of spiritual energy or magic artifacts. They too, could be gravely injured or even killed by an ordinary person if they were not careful.

Without spiritual energy, even a cultivator was merely a mortal with slightly better physical constitution or perhaps a longer lifespan, nothing more.

Lin Xin had long seen through the nature of this world’s Qi Cultivators. Thus, he chose to strengthen his own defense. This way, the cultivators without spiritual energy were just slightly stronger ordinary people to him.

Palm Force released.

The man was sent flying backwards, his body severed from the waist down by a single palm strike, blood mist spraying from his body, fragile like a cloth doll.

To his death, his eyes retained an incredulous look.

He didn’t know why his spiritual energy had failed, nor why he had been poisoned.

Though the poison was only brief, causing his spiritual energy to fail at the critical moment, that brief moment was fatally enough.

Unable to initiate or channel his cultivation power for protection, his reactions were even delayed due to shock.

Withdrawing his palm, Lin Xin’s whole body was enveloped in a substantial, eerie blue flame. It was an abnormal phenomenon that appeared when too much West Bell Fire had been inscribed on his body and was suddenly activated.

Turning around, he looked towards a woman rushing over, attempting to save the man.

"Senior brother!!" The shock was incomparable as the woman watched the man being split into two by a palm.

As a Qi Cultivator of the Demon Sect, having gone through many trials and tribulations over the years, she did not expect such a lapse, to be killed instantly in such a trivial valley, by someone who wasn’t even a Qi Cultivator.

This huge disparity gave her an unreal illusion, as if everything before her eyes was just a dream.

"I’ll kill you!!"

She brandished a magic artifact, a yellow square handkerchief flew out at high speed, spinning towards Lin Xin to slice him.

The handkerchief emitted a faint yellow light, the center embroidered with a bright red peach blossom design. As it flew, it let out a sharp, soul-hooking screech that disturbed one’s mind and made it hard to concentrate.

Lin Xin’s whole body was engulfed again in blue flame, and a layer glowing with white light appeared in front of him.

He wanted to see how strong his current defense combined with the Spiritual Light Shield could really be.

The handkerchief collided with the white spiritual light.

Hiss hiss hiss...

The yellow handkerchief cut fiercely at the film of the spiritual light shield.

The white film continued to be sliced, creating tiny, shimmering white sparkles, and intensely depressed inward.

But it just wouldn’t break.

The woman was stunned.

Lin Xin smiled.

Cultivators are nothing but powerful, fast-firing cannons. As long as their attacks can’t get through him, he just needed to find a way to break their defense.

"It seems you have lost."

He lifted his palm, his figure suddenly surging forward.

Whoosh!

Ninth Layer Innate power burst forth in full force. Withstanding the yellow handkerchief, he struck the woman with a palm.

Bang!

A surging, intense palm strike exploded, the spiritual light in front of the woman shattered into numerous small points, and the massive force caused her to step back.

"Just an Innate!" Her face flushed red, she flicked her hand, scattering a handful of fine black sand.

The sand headed towards Lin Xin and exploded in mid-air, emitting waves of foul odor, evidently highly toxic.

Lin Xin didn’t dodge; he charged forward directly.

Bang bang bang bang...

The black sand continuously exploded, blasting pits on the white spiritual light shield in front of him.

And with the yellow handkerchief still stuck, laboriously cutting and swirling on the spiritual light.

Finally, a crack appeared on the spiritual light shield.

"You’re finished!" The woman, seeing this, immediately relaxed and burst into laughter.

This Lin Xin was too weird—first mysteriously protecting himself against poison, then taking advantage of their lack of magic artifact protection to ambush and kill the senior brother, and now, he even unleashed a defense that appeared to be a Spiritual Light Shield, which was also abnormally strong. He had not only resisted her magic artifact but could also withstand a handful of Dispersing Spirit Sand, his defense so strong that it almost made her think she was battling a Sixth Layer Qi Cultivator!

"Finished?"

Lin Xin smiled, his body activating another layer of white light, managing to pull out another magic artifact to link up just as the previous spiritual light was dissipating.

Suddenly the layer of white light film was as solid as before.

The woman stared, dumbfounded, only then realizing that what Lin Xin had taken out was actually a simple Spiritual Light Shield, a low value-for-money artifact typically used by Innate disciples!

Moreover, he was so wealthy that he could afford to use an artifact that cost tens of thousands of Jade Money as if it were a mere expendable item!?

Even if they were true Qi Cultivators or it was just an ordinary Magic Artifact, it wouldn’t be so extravagant. After all, although such Magic Artifacts are common, accumulating enough of them could still be exchanged for a decent Magic Artifact for the Qi Cultivation Stage.

Those who own Magic Artifacts are still in the minority. Most Qi Cultivators gradually refine their frequently-used weapons or personal belongings into Talisman Artifacts. To elevate a Talisman Artifact to the level of a Magic Artifact, one has to continuously add materials and Formations, as not everyone can afford to casually procure more than two Magic Artifacts.

She wouldn’t be able to use Dispersing Spirit Sand if she hadn’t slain many cultivators.

That handful of sand might be easy to throw, but the cost she paid was equivalent to accepting four or five missions to compensate for....

And this person here actually treats Magic Artifacts as consumables??

"You lunatic!!" The woman couldn’t help but be green with envy.

Lin Xin could fully understand her anger.

But such was the qualitative change brought about by having ample wealth, and of course, his own Attribute enhancements played a crucial role.

Neither were dispensable.

The Spiritual Light Shield, for instance, was something the Elders at the Foundation Establishment Stage would use as rewards for disciples. Even a Shield of average quality was a costly Magic Artifact worth tens of thousands of Jade Money, much stronger than ordinary Talisman Artifacts. If not for his own affluent flow of income from the Luminous Talisman Sword, even as a Suppressor, all his years of income pooled together would only be enough to buy one Magic Artifact.

He was now the Villa Master of the Spirit Heart Villa, dominating Leifu, with at least one percent of all the Villa’s wealth converging towards him.

And even then, he could only afford one Magic Artifact.

That’s exactly why Magic Artifacts are so expensive.

By now, the woman was thoroughly red-eyed and threw another handful of Dispersing Spirit Sand.

"I want to see if you, an Innate, can compete with me in wealth at the Qi Cultivation Stage!!"

She rapidly backtracked, avoiding Lin Xin’s attacks.

The two of them darted and dodged through the canyon like butterflies weaving through flowers.

Lin Xin didn’t dodge or evade, simply taking the hits and continuously striking towards the woman.

Bang!

A Luminous Talisman Sword exploded right in front of him, but the intense explosion only caused a slight ripple in his white light.

The woman began to attack with the Luminous Talisman Sword she obtained from him.

Soon, Lin Xin’s second Spiritual Light Shield also shattered.

He instantly took out another Spiritual Light Shield to replace it.

Once the Talisman Sword was used up, the woman gritted her teeth and scattered more Dispersing Spirit Sand. She wanted to avenge her dead fellow disciple! She refused to believe that after accumulating so much wealth over the years, she would fear a young Innate!

The two of them, one chasing and one fleeing, found that Lin Xin’s Palm Force had difficulty crushing the Defensive Magic Artifact’s Spiritual Light protecting the woman’s body.

Handful by handful, the Dispersing Spirit Sand continued to scatter as the woman constantly retreated, consuming pills to replenish her Spiritual Energy. Not being adept at close combat, she had to maintain distance.

However, a few dozen moments later, when she saw Lin Xin pull out another Spiritual Light Shield, her sanity finally collapsed.

"I will definitely come back for revenge!!!" Finally, she harshly threw down those bitter words and turned to blast away into the distance.

Lin Xin quickly caught up, his years of perfected Qinggong making it impossible for the woman to shake him off.

In desperation, she scattered all of Lin Xin’s items she had obtained, spreading them everywhere like a Celestial Maiden scattering flowers.

Lin Xin then stood his ground, not pursuing further but calmly watching as she disappeared into the distance.

"It looks like the effect of the West Bell Fire isn’t very good.... I must break through the Qi Cultivation Stage... Otherwise, I can’t even break through the opponent’s Defensive Magic Artifact. If it weren’t for my abundant wealth, I might actually be in some danger."

"The problem is, the defense is sufficient, but the offensive methods are not... I can only rely on Talisman Artifacts, and once they run out, I lose my most reliable support... I must compensate for this."

He mentally summarized this lesson.

Indeed, there are too few methods of attack that allow for challenging higher levels. Unless I can find a powerful enough Magic Artifact.

His mind recalled that Innate disciple who had publicly defected, managing to resist an Elder’s long-range attacks with a Magic Artifact, which appeared immensely formidable.

"Although envious, seizing a Magic Artifact is unrealistic; not to mention that all Magic Artifacts have their owners. Even if obtained, it would be akin to harboring a valuable forbidden possession, easily attracting powerful enemies.... The best method is still to create a suitable Magic Artifact myself."

He went around collecting his scattered belongings, the Red Flower Sword, Solar Yang Talisman Sword, and so forth.

Apart from the Red Flower Sword, the rest did not serve much purpose anymore.

Each Luminous Talisman Sword hit was equivalent to a Sixth Layer Innate strike, and it took three used together to barely threaten an Eighth Layer Innate. For those at the Ninth Layer or Perfection level, they were protected by Innate Qi. The augmenting effect of the Solar Yang Talisman Sword was also growing weaker, as its essence was merely a collection of Low-Level Talisman Formations.

Lin Xin extended his hand, faint white light subtly shimmering on him, the halo as crystalline as if it was covering his skin. This phenomenon, where Innate Qi manifested physically after reaching the Ninth Layer Perfection, indicated that his Inner Qi was gradually, comprehensively transforming into Innate.

Once the white light no longer appeared after circulating his Qi, it would signify the complete transformation of his Innate Qi, with no more trace of Postnatal Inner Qi in his body. Afterward, he would no longer need to absorb Inner Qi from food but would need to inhale and exhale morning and evening mists daily to strengthen his Inner Qi.

That would also mark the time his body officially formed the smaller Return to Origin cycle.

After collecting all his belongings, the Man-Eating Flower emerged from the ground, standing before him with its bud open, revealing a large eyeball inside.

The pupil of the eyeball, mirror-like, gazed into Lin Xin’s.

Hiss...

Suddenly, a vision with slightly warped edges appeared in Lin Xin’s mind.

The woman from Star Calamity Hall, who had fled, was rapidly running through the canyon, occasionally glancing backward.

"It can monitor from such a distance?" Lin Xin was somewhat surprised; this was his first use of the One-Eyed Man-Eating Flower’s warning capability. This special ability had appeared after the plant’s evolution.

"Star Calamity Hall... Red Pavilion... It seems necessary to make a trip outside, two assassination attempts, without some response, people really might think I’m easy to bully."

He lightly flicked the sword’s body, smiling slightly. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly passes, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)