Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 154 - 147 Delay Part 1

Chapter 154: Chapter 147 Delay Part 1

Half a month later...

Bang!

The stone table suddenly shattered, breaking into several pieces that scattered and violently struck the stone walls.

"Dead?!" Han Xiaolong, the Taoist in a white robe, couldn’t believe what the disciple reporting to him just said.

"Yes... yes, master..." the disciple stammered fearfully, responding in a low voice. "It is said that only belongings were found by the creek..."

"Meng Man... couldn’t have managed this, it must have been that damned woman from the Dugu family!" A glint of murderous intent flashed in Han Xiaolong’s eyes. "To kill my friend, to cut off my means of making a living, is like killing one’s own parents! Dugu Lin!!"

He gritted his teeth, and with a clench of his palm, spiritual energy exploded outloud, making the whole cave mansion rumble like thunder.

The disciple trembled even more with fright.

"Get out!!" Han Xiaolong was in a bad mood, and seeing the disciple’s timid and fearful demeanor only infuriated him further.

Just as the disciple was scrambling towards the cave entrance...

"Wait! Has your Brother Yuan returned?"

"No... not yet, master..."

"When he comes back, have him come to me!"

"Yes..."

Only then did Han Xiaolong impatiently allow him to leave.

Sitting upright inside the cave mansion, he felt even more troubled in his mind.

"Dugu Lin, oh Dugu Lin, don’t think that just because you are favored by the Supreme Elder, you can do whatever you want!"

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

Sword Hall Peak of the Sect

White mist twined around, ethereal with celestial energy, in front of the gleaming white jade-like Taoist palace of the Sword Hall.

Bang!

On the stone steps of the Taoist palace, several guarding disciples were sent flying out, screaming in agony.

A slender figure appeared on the steps. Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, marked by a slight silver vertical line on her forehead, resembling a third eye.

"Dugu Lin! This is a critical area of the Sword Hall! How dare you barge in!"

A figure in a black robe shot out from a distance in the Taoist palace, with a clang of a sword, suddenly a streak of black light soared, turning into a black serpent in mid-air, twisting and turning as it ferociously pounced towards the woman.

"Scram!"

Pale Sword Qi suddenly burst forth, with Dugu Lin’s sword blade manifesting a void shadow, which suddenly enlarged and viciously cut the black serpent into two.

The Taoist’s face turned pale, blood spewing from his mouth as he plummeted from the sky, causing the surrounding disciples to gasp in shock and rush forward to help.

Dugu Lin’s expression was frosty as she slowly walked up the stone steps.

"My brother has been killed, yet you useless bunch couldn’t even find a single clue. A vague perpetrator possibly from the Vermilion Bird Holy Court, and you think you can fool anyone with that?"

Han Xiaolong’s figure swiftly appeared in the sky on the right side of the Taoist palace, riding on a giant white jade sword as he flew down.

"Dugu Lin, what madness has gotten into you this time?!" he yelled furiously.

"This is a confidential area of the Sword Hall! How can you behave so recklessly?!"

"I really detest trash shouting nonsense in front of me," Dugu Lin’s icy gaze suddenly fixed on him. "Try shouting again..."

"I!...."

A chilling murderous intent instantly locked onto Han Xiaolong’s entire body, preventing him from uttering another word. He vaguely felt a pain in his chest and even began to see vague illusions appearing before him, instantly realizing this was caused by Dugu Lin’s overpowering of his spirit.

"From the Cloud Heart Divine Sword... you’ve actually mastered it?!"

He stepped back abruptly, his face revealing a look of horror.

Hiss hiss hiss!

Suddenly, countless streaks of Sword Light shot out from Dugu Lin’s sword, covering heaven and earth as they aggressively descended upon him.

Each streak of Sword Light seemed to bear an irresistible force. Just feeling the surge made Han Xiaolong sense his Spiritual Energy crumbling.

"Sword Intent!" He was even more alarmed, able to condense Sword Qi into willpower, shaping a terrifyingly powerful Sword Intent, a mighty Sword Dao that countless cultivators dream of achieving. He had never imagined Dugu Lin would also accomplish it!

Hiss hiss hiss! Countless streaks of Sword Qi flew towards him.

Bang!

His body, overtaken by the Sword Intent, could not mobilize any Spiritual Power, left only to watch helplessly as the Sword Qi viciously pierced his heart.

Puff!

A mouthful of fresh blood spurted out. He collapsed to the ground as if struck by lightning, his entire body weakening.

"Trash!"

Dugu Lin walked past him without even a glance.

What sword Qi or sword intent was there? This was the terror of the Cloud Heart Divine Sword, as the hidden top Sword Technique Divine Ability of the Pine Sword Sect. She had merely released an invisible heartspirit sword Qi, causing Han Xiaolong to fall into an illusion and suffer severe injuries.

By now, more than a dozen Qi Cultivators had gathered in front of the Taoist Palace, yet no one dared to stop her.

They automatically parted, creating a path for her to enter the Taoist Palace.

Dugu Lin walked into the Taoist Palace at leisure, and after a while, she slowly emerged. Her expression was frosty as she leaped into the air, a transparent sword light appearing under her feet, carrying her away like a shot arrow.

Han Xiaolong was helped up by two other Foundation Establishment Stewards who had rushed over.

"Elder Han..." one of them said with a bitter smile, "Dugu Lin is not someone we can stop anymore. To master the Cloud Heart Divine Sword, even for a Spirit Gathering Physique, is incredibly difficult, and who would have thought she..."

"I will go into seclusion for ten years when I return, so as not to embarrass myself further..." the other one muttered grimly, choking out a sentence filled with anger.

Han Xiaolong struggled to his feet, touching his chest, feeling a piercing pain that indicated an internal injury to his heart meridians. His heart was filled with indignation.

"To kill my friend, injure my heart meridians... Dugu Lin!!" He gasped heavily, hatred surging like a tide, his chest violently heaving.

"Don’t make yourself sick with anger. Elder Han, not to mention that we can’t beat Dugu Lin now, even if we could, with the Supreme Elder backing her, who would dare to touch her?"

With his belly full of grievances, Han Xiaolong thought: Indeed, it was correct for the teacher to act decisively back then. If another Dugu from Dugu Mountain were to rise, our place in the Sword Hall would be forever lost!

"Elder Han, you will just have to swallow this grievance." From afar, another voice floated over, clearly belonging to a graceful and handsome Taoist. This man had a face as fine as jade, his eyebrows sharp as swords, and his eyes blazed with light, piercingly sharp. He approached Han Xiaolong in just a few steps.

"It turns out to be Brother Kun Shengru." Han Xiaolong struggled to his feet, greeting the man with respect.

The other two Foundation Establishments also respectfully greeted the man.

The Kun Family, one of the three major families within the Sect, was notorious for its members’ unpredictable temperaments. Kun Shengru had entered the Golden Core Stage and had captured thirteen Great Witches from the Red Mansion to use as cauldrons in his Cave Mansion not long after. His family has always been known for being perverse, notorious in the Sect, yet no one dares to provoke them due to each member’s formidable strength and the support of a Supreme Elder overhead.

"The Cloud Heart Divine Sword primarily uses the Heart Sword Intent Sword. Additionally, now that Dugu Lin’s life-dependent younger brother has died, her will is as hard as gold. Using such sword techniques, the power is hard to estimate, and even I feel somewhat timid facing her directly," Kun Shengru said with a smile.

"Brother Kun is joking. If even you find it difficult, then aside from the chief, isn’t there no one in the six halls of the Sect who can restrain her?" an earlier Foundation Establishment flattered.

"I am not joking," Kun Shengru’s smile vanished, "That elder’s methods may be radical, but ultimately they were for the Sect’s sake. It’s just that his intentions were misunderstood by others, leading to factional strife that damaged the foundation of the Sect. My grandfather’s intention is to put an end to all this."

"But!"

"There are no buts." Kun Shengru smiled again, "I am looking out for your best interests, mentioning this only because of the respects Elder Han has shown me each time. Don’t fail to appreciate my kindness..."

At this moment, a trace of chilliness was subtly visible in his smile.

Han Xiaolong and his two companions immediately broke into a cold sweat and dared not ask any further questions. They just saw Kun Shengru laugh heartily, passing by the trio and walking farther and farther away until his figure gradually disappeared in the distance.

Only when he had completely left,

"This is outrageous...! This is outrageous!!" Han Xiaolong felt suffocated, his heart meridians that were damaged just now tore again, and suddenly he spewed a mouthful of blood.

Pfft!

"Brother Han! Brother Han!!"

A mist of blood filled the air, and he suddenly fell backwards to the ground; two Foundation Establishment cultivators quickly held him, took to their swords, and flew off towards the Elixir Hall.

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

"Thank you, Senior Sister Dugu."

Ji Lu, along with You Xuan, deeply bowed towards Dugu Lin, who was standing near a mountain wall not far away.

"It was just a convenient action," Dugu Lin said indifferently. "If it wasn’t for their faction deliberately leaking information, my brother and I wouldn’t have been ambushed by the experts of the Holy Court."

"Xuan’er and I were ordered by our master not to leave the mountain, so we could not lend a hand to our junior brother and had to resort to this ploy," Ji Lu also smiled wryly, carefully taking out a small white sword from his bosom. The sword’s hilt featured two faces, one crying and one laughing. It was unmistakably the Heaven’s Will Sword that Lin Xin had acquired.

"This is the payment made by my junior brother."

He tossed the Heaven’s Will Sword into the air, where it was instantly seized by Dugu Lin from midair and gently flew into her hands.

"Heaven’s... Will... What a sword!!" Her eyes immediately shone brightly, "The material of this magic sword is precious, although I do not know what it is made of, it seems it’s nearly a magical treasure. Very good, very good!! I am very satisfied with this transaction!"

"To think that just by severely injuring Han Xiaolong, such a fine sword could be obtained, if this gets out, I’m afraid Han Xiaolong would be terrified even in his dreams. This sword is worth tens of millions of Jade Money, priceless indeed."

She held the Heaven’s Will Sword, unable to let go, continually examining it.

"If Senior Sister likes it, that’s great," Ji Lu said softly, bowing his head. "Actually, if Han Xiaolong had not been too outrageous, my junior brother would not have given up his most precious magic sword to ask for Senior Sister’s help."

"No worries, but this time I have used the pretext of searching for information to forcefully storm one of the Inner Halls overseen by Han Xiaolong, even going so far as to severely injure him. It’s likely that my teacher will order me to restrain myself, and in the near future, if Han Xiaolong does not provoke me, I won’t be able to help out," Dugu Lin pondered slightly, carefully observing the completely different refinement techniques on the Heaven’s Will Sword, a trace of unusual color flashing in her eyes.

"However... if your junior brother has similar valuable items, feel free to contact me. Even at the risk of being punished, I am willing to take action again!"

Ji Lu and You Xuan quickly expressed their thanks. In the sect, cultivation base is respected, so although Dugu Lin belonged to a later generation, her cultivation had now become unfathomable, reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage, with both of them being far inferior in cultivation, naturally they referred to themselves as junior brother and junior sister.

Once one reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, others could no longer discern their cultivation level, only recognizing it through their combat prowess. Dugu Lin’s combat prowess had already surpassed Han Xiaolong, who was in the middle phase of Foundation Establishment, and with her Spirit Gathering Physique and talent, her future was boundlessly promising.

It was not shameful for them to show such respect.(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to cast your votes and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)