Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 135 - 130 Killing Intent - Part 2

Chapter 135: Chapter 130 Killing Intent - Part 2

He put away the Yang Polarity Scroll and picked up another scroll from the dish, undid the tie, and slowly unfurled it.

The Exquisite Secrets Of The Radiant Sun Sect were all recorded on it, including a type of offensive swordsmanship called the Life Slaying Sword Dao, which specifically refers to seizing a strand of the opponent’s Life Yang Fire in the midst of slaughter to then burn and borrow its power, further enhancing the speed and power of the swordsmanship.

"Life Slaying Sword Dao... This is the main technique your sect practices, isn’t it?" Lin Xin looked towards Liu Yang.

The latter slightly lowered his head with a hint of shame.

"Yes. The Life Slaying Sword Dao is easy to master and quick to shape. Although it harms the body, we... have no better options."

"Life Yang Fire..." Lin Xin mused thoughtfully.

He then took stock of the current overall situation of the Radiant Sun Sect.

There was one person of Innate Ninth Layer strength, Liu Yang.

Two people of Innate Eighth Layer strength, Liu Zong and Liu Yuan.

The rest ranged from at least the Second Layer of the Inner Family to the highest being the Innate Fifth Layer, with considerable gaps between them.

Liu Yang was almost sixty years old, his cultivation accumulated over time. Liu Zong and Liu Yuan were children from poor families who had received great kindness from the sect. Raised by Liu Yang, they were exceptionally talented. Now in their thirties, they were almost single-handedly supported by the entire sect’s resources in the hopes that they could make further progress.

But because their cultivation technique had no life-extending effects, something only grand sect techniques possessed, regardless of their talent, they could at most reach Qi Refinement and hit their limits.

By taking over the Radiant Sun Sect, Lin Xin gained an absolutely loyal force. He forcibly dragged the Radiant Sun Sect onto his ship, with both sides intent on succeeding or perishing together.

After leaving the underground palace of the Radiant Sun Sect, he returned to the manor and went to visit Huang Shan.

His daughter had also been brought back and was now living with Huang Shan. However, she could not leave the premises, and everything they needed was delivered by outsiders.

Upon his return to the manor, Lin Xin surprisingly found that Situ Hao was still there.

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

The sound of stringed and woodwind instruments, along with the gentle laughter of women, mixed with the hearty laughter of men, emanated from the chamber.

During the night, Lin Xin looked at the brightly lit area with a hint of mockery on his face.

"He really thinks of my place as a brothel?"

Lin Xinyuan stood behind him.

"After you left, Big Brother, he became even more unrestrained. Just a while ago, he actually tried to enter the inner courtyard and make advances on Sister Lingling but was stopped by me and the Zen Master. If I hadn’t held Xiao Hong back, she would’ve rushed in to kill him," she said with an unpleasant expression and a hint of anger in her tone.

"Let him play," Lin Xin said indifferently, without anger. "Also, deliver my prepared Jade Token into his hands; the eighty percent of the earnings, as well as the Luminous Talisman Sword, make sure everything is ready."

"Really going to hand it over?" Lin Xinyuan sounded somewhat reluctant.

"Of course."

"But those are tokens you painstakingly refined one by one... Why should they get everything for nothing just because of their word!"

"There are no buts," Lin Xin turned his head to look at her. "Because we’re weak."

Lin Xinyuan fell silent, unable to retort.

"For the food and water we send him in the future, add some Golden Sun Powder," Lin Xin said casually.

"Huh...?"

Golden Sun Powder was the most domineering potent aphrodisiac... It could stimulate a person’s potential and cause a rapid outbreak. It was one of the exclusive formulas of Gongsun Li of the manor, known only within the manor and not to outsiders. Using it frequently would damage one’s cultivation foundation and deplete the body.

"Be discreet about it."

Lin Xin advised.

After giving clear instructions, Lin Xin went to a secluded forest behind the manor. In the forest, he pressed a mechanism, and immediately the ground revealed a deep passage.

He jumped down into it and walked inside for a moment until he quickly arrived at a large and bright cavern.

A beam of white light fell from above, illuminating the entire cave wall.

The cave was decorated lavishly, like a palace, with all sorts of furnishing and equipment, albeit a bit too high and thus appearing empty.

Huang Shan was at a writing desk, slowly writing with a concentrated focus.

"There’s nothing we can do about Mother Yu’s fate, but we still have to figure out how exactly she died," Lin Xin said from the doorway, watching his pen slowly move.

"It’s not what you think; she was indeed ambushed by the Vermilion Bird Holy Court, without any internal interference from the sect," Huang Shan replied in a low voice. "As for what followed, an elixir family without a Foundation Establishment Stage strength holding onto so many resources naturally can’t continue, so what happened afterward was inevitable."

His voice didn’t fluctuate, as if he was talking about someone else’s business. Though he wasn’t particularly close to Elder Yu, she was still a Formation Hall predecessor. It was obvious that he was deliberately suppressing his emotions.

"What about the other predecessors from the Formation Hall?" Lin Xin asked in a low voice with his eyes closed.

"Others?" Huang Shan sneered coldly, "Who would dare to take the lead? The only one, Taoist Chang Qin, was also suppressed by the Sword Hall elders. He’s still detained in the sect unable to leave, and the rest of the so-called friends can only fend for themselves."

He put his pen down.

"On the other hand, there was a Foundation Establishment Stage expert from the Golden Jade Sect who rushed over, but he was too late and got intercepted on the way. The current situation is also unknown."

"So, Mother Yu was just left to be wiped out?" Lin Xin said icily.

"Now, the Sword Sect is almost entirely under the Sword Hall’s control," Huang Shan replied without agreeing or disagreeing.

"To think such a sect could survive till now without the support of Sun Spring is a miracle in itself," Lin Xin said sarcastically.

"That’s true indeed," Huang Shan shrugged.

For a while, neither wanted to speak again, opting for silence.

A moment later.

"Junior Brother..." Huang Shan ultimately couldn’t help but ask, "What about the people from that fishing village... what happened to them in the end?"

"Would you believe me if I said I didn’t lay a hand on them?" Lin Xin said with a smile.

Huang Shan remained silent.

Lin Xin shrugged in the same manner as him.

"I really didn’t lay a hand on them." He indeed hadn’t; it was his subordinates who did.

Huang Shan looked him straight in the eye for a while until Lin Xin continued to meet his gaze without a hint of shame, and then he finally eased up.

"Alright, I believe you."

Lin Xin showed a smile.

"When did you start to doubt my character, Senior Brother?"

"...I don’t know..." Huang Shan exhaled. "What are your plans for the future? Do you intend to just keep me here indefinitely?"

"Where could you go?" Lin Xin retorted. "Back to the Sect?"

Huang Shan fell silent.

"I’ll provide all the elixirs and materials you need, so rest well, Senior Brother. We will always wait for an opportunity," Lin Xin comforted him before turning and heading towards the passage.

The stone door behind him slowly closed, and a faint sigh from Huang Shan followed.

Lin Xin knew what he most wanted to ask.

How his cultivation had suddenly soared from the Innate Seventh Layer to the Qi Refinement Stage, a leap that couldn’t be achieved by merely taking medicine in a short time.

But in the end, he did not ask.

Everyone has secrets of their own, and that is true for anyone.

After leaving the underground dwelling, Lin Xin went straight back to the inner courtyard and spent some time alone with Xiao Lingling before going to check on the progress of the three youngsters.

Ou Yinghong was correcting the basic sword forms of the two children, but Yu Xiaolu, now known as Lin Duan, was sitting weakly on the side, resting.

Seeing Lin Xin approach,

Lin Duan nervously stood up, looking at him uneasily. She hadn’t been practicing.

"Is it because of the poison?"

Lin Xin asked in a low voice.

Ou Yinghong slowly nodded.

Lin Luo and Hua Yaozhu also looked somewhat despondent on the side, but they were still maintaining the basic positions of their sword forms.

At their current age, what they needed most was to integrate the basic sword forms into their bodies’ instincts.

Green Divine, one of the incurable chronic poisons, the biggest issue for those afflicted was the gradual weakening of their bodily resistance. Neither Inner Qi nor Spiritual Energy could offer any resistance, making it one of the most expensive and mysterious famous deadly poisons of the present age.

Lin Xin walked up to Lin Duan, took the little girl’s hand, and a stream of Spiritual Energy suddenly entered her body’s meridians.

Just as the Spiritual Energy began to probe, he felt a massive resistance blocking his way.

With a slight effort from him, the little girl’s face turned pale, and blood flowed from her nostrils.

"Impressive! Even an examination cannot be done..."

He retracted the Spiritual Energy and let go of her hand.

"The major effect of Green Divine’s toxin is to weaken the physique; it’s not fatal in itself. The real fatality comes from other diseases that follow," he said softly.

"Then, Master, can my sister... still practice cultivation..." Lin Luo asked anxiously.

Lin Xin fell silent for a moment.

"I’m afraid she cannot..."

A silence ensued.

Lin Luo clenched his teeth, his eyes rimmed with redness. Hua Yaozhu too looked disappointed; after all, having been together for so long, they had developed some affection for each other.

"Perhaps in the future a new method will be found, but for now, that’s all we can do, Lin Luo," Lin Xin said, looking at the emotionally stirred boy.

"From now on, you carry your sister’s share as well," he added.

Lin Luo nodded firmly.

Lin Duan wiped away her nosebleed, but instead of looking sad, she cracked a slight smile.

"Brother, don’t worry, I’ll be fine. With Master here, there will surely be a way found in the future."

Lin Xin looked at Lin Duan intently, feeling for the first time that this little girl was somewhat beyond his expectations. At such a young age, she possessed such composure. If she could pursue cultivation and, with her talent, she might even become the next Su Wan.

"In one month, I will formally guide you in the ways of cultivation practice," he said.

He left them with those words and turned to leave,

but he heard the subdued responses of the children behind him. The gloominess from Lin Duan’s inability to cultivate seemed to have dissipated suddenly.

A trace of a smile graced the corner of his mouth as he walked toward his private cultivation chamber.

As he passed the small lake in the manor,

snap.

Suddenly someone patted him on the shoulder from behind.

"Who?"

He turned around, but to his astonishment, there was no one behind him. The closest person was more than ten meters away.

Heehee...

It was as if someone giggled right by his ear, so close yet totally invisible.

Lin Xin’s hand instantly produced a high-level Resentment Talisman, infused with Inner Qi and lit.

Yet the Talisman Paper did not react at all.

"Not resentment ghosts..." Even the most powerful resentment ghosts would have triggered a reaction from the Talisman. But now...

"Another illusion?" his eyes widened only to see everything in front of him seem to twist and blur slowly.

As if a funhouse mirror stood before him, all objects began to contort and warp.

A sense of dizziness that he’d experienced once before assaulted his mind relentlessly.

He swayed slightly,

and it took him more than ten breaths with Spiritual Energy coursing through his body before he could steady himself and the visual distortions faded from sight.

"Villa Master... the old lady... calls for you... heeheehee..."

He looked up to see a twisted, bloody woman slowly moving toward him. With stark white bulging eyes fixed on him, she stuck out her tongue while speaking. The tongue, dripping with blood, grew longer and redder, twisting like a slender poisonous snake, flying toward him.

Hiss!

A flash of sword light, and with a hiss, blood sprayed over Lin Xin.

All was quiet once more.

The guards, the servants passing by, and the Hidden Guards concealed around, all were stunned momentarily.

They blankly watched Lin Xin stand on the stone bridge by the small lake.

Slowly wiping the blood from his face,

Lin Xin then saw that everything had returned to normal, and in front of him, the body of a headless servant was slowly collapsing to the ground.

Blood gushed from the neck, hissing softly as it surged out.

"Villa Master!"

A guard approached cautiously and asked.

Lin Xin remained silent for a moment. His grip on the sword tightened.

"Take him away. I suspect he had the intention of assassination; he might have been under the influence of the Demon Sect’s Heart Control Poison."

"Understood!" the guard immediately understood and hurriedly had the body carried away.

"...Treat his family kindly." Lin Xin dropped the instruction.

"The Villa Master is compassionate," several guards showed their admiration.

Lin Xin walked some distance, then suddenly turned his head back to look at the location of the body.

"An illusion..."(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)