Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 130 - 125: Sword Part 1

Chapter 130: Chapter 125: Sword Part 1

Spirit Heart Villa

Whoosh!

A figure suddenly landed at the side of a rockery in the back courtyard of the villa, dressed in white with a black belt—it was Lin Xin, who had quietly returned to the villa. Standing behind him were the three children he had just brought back, and Lin Xinyuan and Gongsun Li were quietly waiting.

"These three children will live in the villa from now on, and I trust you both to take care of them," Lin Xin glanced at Lin Xinyuan and Gongsun Li. These two were his left and right hand in the villa—one represented family power and the other represented allied power. They were also the two he trusted the most.

Under the influence of the Blood Pill Technique, Lin Xinyuan had entered the first layer of the Inner Realm a couple of years ago, but she couldn’t progress any further and could only refine her external martial arts skills.

Upon hearing this, she looked over at the three children.

There was a little boy with a fierce expression, a frail little girl who looked pitiful at everyone, and a tomboyish little girl.

Though puzzled, she nodded respectfully in response.

"Don’t worry, big brother, just leave it to us," she said.

Gongsun Li, who was in charge of the intelligence network, was somewhat aware of the situation and knew it was a significant matter, so he spoke seriously.

"Villa Master, have you really decided to let them stay in the villa?"

"Why not?" Lin Xin turned around, "Can anyone prove their original identities?" he countered.

Gongsun Li fell silent. Indeed, both children’s families had died, children grow quickly and in a few years, they will have changed; change their names, and who could recognize their original identities?

"Alright, Xinyuan, take them down and arrange for them to rest. As for their names..."

"Uncle, we have thought it through, our original names can no longer be used, please grant us new ones," Yu Xiaodou, the understanding child, spoke up.

"Granting names..." Lin Xin, using the moonlight, looked at the determined faces of the children. "Your name is rare and easy to recognize. It was only because you were wearing a satin undershirt that I recognized you. Brocade and satin... From now on, your name will be Lin Luo."

"Then I shall be Lin Duan," Yu Xiaolu softly interjected from the side.

"Lin Luo... Lin Duan..." Lin Xin looked up at the clear moon in the sky, his heart filled with unspeakable complexities as he thought about Elder Yu, a Foundation Establishment elder who had met such a plight.

After sending the three children off, only he and Gongsun Li were left.

"Li Lao, how is the collection plan going now?"

Gongsun Li waved his hand, and immediately, several faint sounds rustled as shadows spread out to take guard around them. Inside the well-guarded and formation-sealed villa, such vigilance hinted at the criticality of the conversation that was about to follow.

"Replying to the Villa Master, the scattered Cultivation Techniques and Secret Techniques outside are too few, and the ones I have collected are mostly incomplete, lacking wholeness," Gongsun Li reported.

"It’s naturally difficult to collect Divine Technique Decrees; I have already raised the offer to one million Jade Money, yet no one has made a move?" Lin Xin said calmly.

"The Sect-Decrees of various sects all progress step by step. It’s still possible to buy one or two layers, but if you wish to purchase higher ones, then..." Gongsun Li sighed.

"We don’t necessarily have to find large sects; aren’t there many small ones that have perished through history? Why not start from that angle?" Lin Xin suggested quietly.

"That’s exactly what I was thinking, so I have found several small sects about to be extinguished, desperately hanging on. Due to the lack of a Sun Spring, they can only survive in the crevices between major sects, and some are hidden among mortals," Gongsun Li whispered, "However, they each have their demands. Two of them asked for too much, and I rejected them. The other two are more sensible and have counter-offered around two million Jade Money."

"Two million... we can agree to that," Lin Xin pondered for a moment, then responded.

"Additionally, one of the small sects made a request. If the Villa Master can fulfill this request, they are willing to hand over all their classics and have all the sects’ experts and disciples respect the Villa Master as their leader," Gongsun Li continued.

"Do I need those so-called experts?" Lin Xin shook his head, "A few at Innate Level and they consider themselves experts, they think too highly of themselves."

"However, Villa Master, that small sect is currently amidst a stormy time, and based on my verification, their historical sect inheritance is still quite extensive. Although the powerful techniques and secret teachings have been lost, the entirety is still intact. If the Villa Master wants..."

He left his suggestion of establishing his own sect unspoken, but Lin Xin understood what he meant.

Lin Xin pondered for a moment.

"Have all the collected Cultivation Techniques and Secret Techniques brought to my study, and as for that small sect... if they are sincere, let them send their strongest expert to talk with me personally."

"Understood."

Lin Xin currently commanded several hundred experts at the villa, with hundreds more from the Inner Sect alone, and several at the Fourth Innate Layer. All were disciples of the villa who had been sent to the sects in recent years and failed to advance further. Many of them were talented but got injured in sect conflicts, which hindered their Cultivation progress, missing the ten-year inspection period to advance in Qi Cultivation. They had no other choice but to leave, and these few preferred not to go out to protect by themselves but requested to return to the villa for defense.

Lin Xin also pulled some strings to bring these people back, who now lived secludedly in the territory behind the villa to cultivate in hiding. The Spirit Heart Villa was wealthy enough to support several more experts at the Innate Level.

The villa wasn’t only coveted by sect members; even struggling small sects saw a ray of hope in aligning with the massive Spirit Heart Villa. With such backing, they could truly escape their plight and see a chance to flourish their sect since most of the significant territories were dominated by large sects.

Without enough Jade Money, these small sects, which had struggled to reach Innate Level, had already accomplished a miracle, let alone advancing to higher levels of Qi Cultivation, which required substantial resources over many years of persistent effort.

After Gongsun Li left, Lin Xin, alone now, picked up a jug of wine and returned to the bedroom in the back courtyard.

The moonlight was clear, and Xiao Lingling with her long hair draped over her shoulders, sat under a tree in a white dress, holding an embroidery frame, carefully stitching needle by needle.

"Lingling, haven’t you slept yet?" Lin Xin approached, set the wine down, and softly embraced Xiao Lingling from behind.

"Not yet... I’ve been feeling somewhat fatigued lately, so I wanted to find something to busy myself with," Xiao Lingling said with a sweet smile, leaning into Lin Xin’s embrace.

"How do you like my embroidery? My mother taught me."

Lin Xin looked down. It was a picture of mandarin ducks playing in water, nearly finished.

"When did you start embroidering?"

He asked with a smile.

"I started a long time ago..." Xiao Lingling smiled. "Every time you went out at night."

Lin Xin’s smile abruptly froze on his face.

"You..."

"There’s no need to say anything, I know all about it, I just vaguely felt it, that my husband would go out at night, and no matter how much I called, I couldn’t wake you up..." Xiao Lingling spoke softly, "Then I would be very scared, waiting all the time, until you returned to normal, then I dared to sleep..."

Lin Xin remained silent.

"In fact, I realized a long time ago that it doesn’t matter even if I don’t sleep," Xiao Lingling said gently. "I know that my husband has many secrets from me, but I understand, you keep them from me for my good."

Lin Xin gently held her tighter.

Xiao Lingling smiled, then stopped talking and started to hum a song instead.

The gentle humming slowly wafted under the trees, making the surrounding silence even more profound...

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

Boom!

In the midst of a huge white light explosion.

Lin Xin leaped out from the blinding white beams, lightly touching the mountain wall to dodge a gigantic curved sword chasing from behind.

"Demons! Today you cannot escape death!" Several figures were rushing towards him from a distance.

Lin Xin drew the Red Flower Sword with a backward motion. Swish, swish, the strikes passed by the sides of the figures on the ground.

Blood splattered, instantly two Innate Level figures clutched their throats and fell to the ground.

In the depths of the mountain, he had just appeared when he was caught on the spot by the searching figures. These people were merely trying to delay him until their seniors could arrive and strike.

Clearly, they had already somewhat grasped that Lin Xin was primarily using the Demon Talisman Seed as his core tactic.

He landed softly, watching as the Internal House Level figures rushed towards him, along with those in the Qi Refinement Realm quickly approaching from a distance.

"I haven’t tried summoning with amplified attributes after Qi Refinement yet."

With a light laugh, Lin Xin held up the longsword horizontally.

"Yin Mantuo."

Hum!

A multitude of red runes appeared on the blade, slowly starting to tremble.

Ssss!

The closer approaching figures had already sacrificed their Magic Artifacts, all glowing with white light flying daggers, which they fiercely hurled towards him.

The flying daggers spun rapidly, slicing through the air with a high-pitched screech. From all directions, countless daggers targeted Lin Xin.

He surveyed his surroundings, encountering Innate Level figures everywhere, with Qi Refinement figures rapidly heading towards him from afar.

Hiss!

Huge thick man-eating flower roots burst through the soil, forming a barrier around him. The white light flying daggers and the Qi Refinement realm’s curved swords smashed onto the flower roots. With popping sounds, two of the roots were smashed apart, but immediately new roots burst through and joined up.

Lin Xin walked towards the Qi Refinement realm figures, feeling the presence of the Demon Talisman Seeds on the two of them.

"Formation!!"

The two figures shouted loudly.

Suddenly, all the figures around began to circle Lin Xin, their feet leaving glowing white footprints on the ground.

A faint layer of translucent seal, carrying the shapes of birds and fishes on its sides and a huge white character engraved at the bottom, began to press down over his head.

Lin Xin looked up as several dozen man-eating flower roots and vines shot up into the sky, winding into a giant spike that stabbed fiercely upwards.

The spike held against the seal, both locked in a stalemate.

"No wonder it’s a man-eating flower with lethal power raised to 14 points...," Lin Xin commented, holding the glowing Red Flower Sword, calmly walking towards the two Qi Refinement realm figures.

Boom!

The flower roots finally broke under pressure, collapsing heavily. At the instant of the collapse, Lin Xin suddenly speeded up, turning into a void shadow in a flash, and appeared behind the two Qi Refinement realm figures with a sweeping sword strike.

"It’s the Flash Spirit Step." Both figures moved like shadows, changing their position in an instant to dodge the longsword while forming a Decree with their hands.

Two curved swords reappeared out of thin air, spinning back from behind towards Lin Xin’s neck.

Clang, clang!

Lin Xin blocked the curved swords with a reverse grip.

The enhancement wasn’t just for the man-eating flower; his speed and strength at this moment were equivalent to approximately thirteen points higher than a regular person in the Qi Refinement Realm.

The increase in lethality affected both speed and strength, but even he didn’t know his own limits at this level. (To be continued. If you like this work, we invite you to vote and support it at Qidian (qidian.com). For mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)