Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 166 - 159 Exchange Part 1

Chapter 166: Chapter 159 Exchange Part 1

Gently placing his hand on the Red Flower Sword, Lin Xin had just refined it into a Third Grade Divine Weapon, but had not yet truly tested its power.

Red runes slowly emerged on the sword blade, and amongst the dense array of runes, dark golden lines were faintly visible.

Hiss hiss hiss!

Clumps of gray-black vines burst out from the ground like gray-black fountains, tightly ensnaring the approaching one-legged men.

The vines bound them from bottom to top, wrapping around like ropes.

The constant sound of the vines squeezing into flesh was heard, but the numerous menacing barbs on the flower vines couldn’t penetrate the skin of these one-legged men, with many of the spikes instantly snapping off and flying away.

The one-legged men began to struggle, but they could not break free.

The strength of the flower vines was gradually coming to a stalemate with the one-legged men.

It wasn’t long before...

Boom!

Suddenly, one of the one-legged men was crushed by the vines and exploded, turning into a spray of white pulp.

One after another, the explosions continued as more one-legged men were crushed and exploded into clumps of white pulp.

Lin Xin frowned, feeling Yin Mantuo swiftly absorbing the pulp as if quite satisfied, retracting back into the ground.

He simply left it unretracted and planted the Red Flower Sword into the ground beside him, sitting quietly next to the fire and began to toss the meat pancakes into the boiling pot of water, little by little.

A faint stream of warmth flowed from the Red Flower Sword into his body, causing Lin Xin to be slightly stunned.

"Even these one-legged men have it?"

He glanced at his own level of cultivation.

’Return to Origin Art—Qi Refinement Realm Second Layer. (Completion 2%) (Damage +11, Physique +11), additional effects: Sword Qi, Spiritual Energy attachment.’

"Oh? Finally some improvement!" His heart surged with excitement and he couldn’t help but feel joy. His cultivation had not budged for so long, but now it had progressed.

All this time, he had to face increasingly difficult situations, but his cultivation had been stuck, making him feel more and more restless and anxious, yet he was powerless to do anything about it.

Not until now, as the Red Flower Sword was completely repaired and his cultivation began to improve, did he finally take a deep breath of relief.

Quietly cooking a meat pancake with some green onions, a simple meal was prepared, and he wasn’t picky about food. Afterwards, taking a Satiation Pill would sustain him for two days without needing food.

Sitting by the fire, he sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and slowly fell into meditative breathing.

Time slowly passed, and several hours went by inadvertently.

When his breathing was even, he slowly opened his eyes and made an estimate.

"According to the normal time, it should be the early morning hours now..."

The Spiritual Energy circulated within his body as he silently operated the Return to Origin Art, and a suction force appeared between his chest and abdomen. From his mouth and nose, a faint white mist emerged, gathering from around the void and entering his nostrils.

Cough cough cough!

Suddenly he coughed violently, as if choked by something, and the white mist that had just been inhaled scattered instantly.

"What is this!?"

He opened his eyes wide and saw, within the dissipating white mist, countless tiny beings the size of ants, each holding a Trident.

These tiny creatures were all snow-white with large mouths full of sharp teeth on their heads.

The numerous white beings were so many that within a thumb-sized strand of white mist, there were at least hundreds of them. They hopped and jumped, forming what looked like a tiny army within the stream of white mist, continually flowing with it.

Silently dispersing the white mist.

"So even the Spiritual Energy cannot be replenished here? This place really isn’t suitable for living and cultivation practice..."

In this way, the only means to replenish the consumed Spiritual Energy would be through Spirit Jade, no wonder cultivators were unable to expand much into the Outer Regions, nor establish strongholds there. Perhaps other than Sun Spring, there were no means to stay in the Outer Regions for extended periods of time.

Having rested enough, Lin Xin stood up, pulled out the Red Flower Sword radiating red light, and the faint red Rune slowly extinguished. Yin Mantuo turned into a red light from the ground and entered the sword.

Exiting the stone house, there were several more corpses that looked like rotting remains outside, killed without knowing when.

Continuing towards the direction indicated in the Jade Slip, he moved forward for over forty minutes.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A giant black decaying tree with a human-like shape, having arms and legs, was slowly moving across the wasteland.

"Rotting Tree People..." Lin Xin slightly slowed down and went around from behind the towering seven or eight-meter tall Tree People.

He did not want to provoke this kind of tree person.

The Rotting Tree People were covered in honeycomb-like holes, from which flies and maggots crawled in and out. If angered, a huge swarm of insects inside their bodies would rush out and could release for more than ten minutes. These creatures were part semi-shadow beast, part organism.

Shadow beasts were a phenomenon, a natural occurrence that couldn’t be destroyed because they would regenerate after destruction. The Rotting Tree People belonged to this category. However, they were slightly different from shadow beasts, presenting some biological instincts and characteristics.

But as long as they were not provoked, they would not actively attack other beings.

Walking past the Tree People, he gradually climbed a hill and stood at the top, looking down.

Below was another plain with mirror-like puddles scattered everywhere, where the Rotting Tree People walked slowly.

Whoosh...

A giant black whale, ten meters in length, slowly swam over Lin Xin’s head.

It was identical to the whales in the ocean, except it was not swimming in water; its appearance was completely the same.

"Void Whale..." Lin Xin’s heart tightened slightly. Void Whales were extremely gentle creatures that would not attack humans unless provoked, as recorded in the texts.

However, only when truly beneath such a creature did he feel a wholly different kind of astonishment.

Lin Xin looked up at the Void Whale gliding slowly above. Its massive shadow completely enveloped him.

He could see the white belly of the Void Whale covered with blowhole-like openings, around which hung many whisker-like hairs that softly fluttered in the wind.

A faint fishy stench lingered after the Void Whale passed by.

"With a Void Whale present, then this must be the place..."

Lin Xin gazed into the distance toward the plains, where, at the very end of the vast plains, there was a clock-like tilted disc, emerging and fading in the misty haze.

With a light leap, he soared down from the hills, deploying his Cloud Soaring Technique. His figure turned into a white streak, covering dozens of meters in a few bounds.

The plains flew by his side as Lin Xin skirted around several decaying treemen parading and lightly tapped the edge of a protruding puddle.

His body tumbled through the air several times and firmly landed in front of the inclined stone disc.

The stone disc was entirely white, resembling an inclined corona with some fine, faded scales and lettering on it, its edges smoothed out.

The entire disc measured over twenty meters in diameter and was more than ten meters thick. Even ordinary decaying treemen ramming into it could probably only cause a slight tremor.

Lin Xin observed the sky, stood in front of the disc, and slowly regulated his breathing while waiting.

Whoo...

Not far away, a decaying treeman was furiously pounding its chest, emitting strange howls that sounded desolate and prolonged.

As time slowly passed, red moonlight gradually sprinkled upon the disc, unexpectedly forming a semicircular red shadow.

The shadow was as regular as an archway, with not a single excess moonbeam falling outside of it.

Lin Xin opened his eyes, took out the transforming mask and put it on, then walked up to the disc and knocked on the shadow gate.

Knock knock knock.

To his surprise, the stone disc emitted the sound quality of wood.

After knocking, Lin Xin took out the Jade Slip given to him by the Ming brothers and gently pressed it against the disc.

Hiss...

Where the Jade Slip touched, plumes of white smoke immediately rose as if something was burnt by a scalding-hot branding iron, emitting a faint burnt odor.

Creak...

Suddenly, the area of the disc that was merely a red shadow seemed to open inward like a wooden door.

A porcelain doll’s smiling face appeared in front of Lin Xin. It seemed to give him a glance, then the doll pulled the door open wider, making way for him.

Lin Xin steadied himself and slowly walked in.

Inside was a medium-sized wooden corridor with walls made of mahogany, looking ancient. The corridor led directly to an exquisite copper door, which was firmly closed with four golden rings in the middle.

As soon as Lin Xin walked in, the wooden door behind him shut.

He looked around and saw that the one who opened the door for him was a porcelain person about one and a half meters tall, its head and body shaped from white porcelain, dressed in a thick little girl’s clothes with a permanent eerie smile painted on its face—the expression unchanging.

"Is this the branch?" Lin Xin asked the porcelain person.

The porcelain person didn’t speak but simply pointed down the corridor with its hand.

Understanding, Lin Xin headed directly down the corridor. Having come this far, he had to proceed. The Radiance Society sounded mysterious and perhaps unreliable, but he might really have no one else to count on but them now.

He walked to the copper door, and before he could knock, a crack opened automatically.

"A new member?"

Behind the door was a small cozy room filled with bookshelves and books where purple dominated—purple walls, purple floors, purple bookshelves, and purple book covers.

The voice sounded like that of a man, yet also like that of a woman, and it came from this room. But as Lin Xin entered, he saw only a small boy about five or six years old sitting at a desk, immersed in writing something.

"I am the branch manager, Cheng Su." The child lifted his head, revealing another porcelain doll’s face with fine cracks on it.

"Welcome, new member."

Lin Xin frowned slightly.

"May I ask, senior... what race are you?"

"As you can see, I am not of the Human Race; I belong to the porcelain people, not a true race but rather an oddity among the spirits." The little porcelain doll laughed lightly.

"Three hundred years ago, I lamented the Human Race’s short lifespan, so I transformed myself completely into this; sadly, I still didn’t fully succeed. My brothers, sisters, friends, and family all lost their life spirits in a mishap during the transformation. Only I succeeded. You’ll learn more about these matters later. Anyway, every new member who sees me asks the same question."

The small porcelain doll answered in a gentle voice.

"So, having just joined the Radiance Society, you’ve come to the branch so soon; have you encountered some sort of trouble?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)